Am I Giving Away Our Secrets? What I Say When People Ask
People warn me to stop sharing our secrets with the white man. Here is my honest answer, and why I think of it as a question of launch codes.
-
-
Ewe Aklama Dolls: Objects Made More Powerful by Damage
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Several protective-object traditions documented in this book treat damage as a flaw to be avoided, a sign that an object has failed at its job. The Ewe, who live in southern Togo and Ghana…
-
Buyu Ancestor Figures: A Shared Style Outliving the People Who Made It
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Several traditions documented in this book belong unmistakably to one people, carved in a style found nowhere else. The Buyu, who occupy a small area between the Lualaba River and the northwestern end of…
-
Igbo Masquerade Meaning: Why Mmanwu Is a Spirit, Not a Costume
The Igbo masquerade is not a costume. Learn what mmanwu means, who may see it, and why the spirit inside the cloth is never the man.
-
Kissi Pomdo: Stone Ancestors Whose Identity Has to Be Divined From a Dream
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Several ancestor-figure traditions documented in this book are carved to order, made for a specific person and known from the moment the first cut is made. The Kissi, 140,000 people who inhabit a bordering…
-
An African Masks Lesson Plan That Teaches Culture, Not Craft Clichés
Every year the same thing happens in classrooms around the world. A teacher announces that this week the class will study Africa. Paper plates come out. Glitter, feathers, and a few zigzag lines. At the end, thirty identical “African masks” go up on the wall, and not one child can tell you which people made…
-
Bembe Kitebi Figures: Ancestors Who Punish as Well as Protect
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Several ancestor-figure traditions documented in this book carve a passive likeness meant to honor the dead. The Bembe, a small group of 60,000 to 80,000 people living on the plateaus north of the Congo…
-
The Hemba So’o Mask at Auction: What the Catalogue Does Not Tell You
The catalogue photograph is perfect. Soft studio light. A dark background. A face that is half human and half chimpanzee, with a wide crescent mouth stretched almost from ear to ear. Underneath, a short paragraph, an estimate, and a list of previous owners. What you do not see is the funeral. The Hemba So’o mask…
-
Mangbetu Art: A Court Style Built Around One Elongated Skull
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Several court traditions documented in this book concentrate their visual identity in a single royal emblem, a specific object or symbol reserved for the throne. The Mangbetu, who relocated their kingdom to the northeastern…
-
Bulu Masks: Becoming the Gorilla to Fight Poison
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Several protective rituals documented in this book ask an initiate to carry a symbol or wear a mask that represents a guarding spirit. The Bulu, who occupy the border region between Cameroon and Gabon…
-
Lwena Art: The Same Style as the Chokwe, Turned Toward Women
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Several styles documented in this book develop in close dialogue with a more famous neighbor, echoing its structure while marking out a clear identity of their own. The Lwena, spread across Angola, the Democratic…
-
Mbete Reliquary Figures: A Storage Chamber Carved Into the Body Itself
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Several reliquary traditions documented in this book place a carved guardian figure beside or on top of a basket that holds a family’s ancestor relics, keeping figure and remains as separate objects joined only…
