The Makonde people of Tanzania and Mozambique create elaborate helmet masks used in male initiation ceremonies. Discover the symbolism of the Lipiko tradition.
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Almost every well-known African masking tradition is controlled by men. The Sowei mask, worn by the Mende, Temne, Vai, and Gola peoples of Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea, is the exception that reorders the…
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Among the Bobo, a mask is not primarily a portrait, a costume, or even a spirit’s dwelling place. It is closer to an instrument of debt repayment. The Bobo believe that human beings are…
Africa is not one mask tradition. It is hundreds of them, each tied to a specific people, a specific ceremony, and a specific set of beliefs about what a mask does when it is worn. Treating African masks as a single style flattens traditions that have almost nothing in common except the continent they come…
If you search this question, you will find strong opinions on both sides, and very little that explains where the question even comes from. Understanding that history is the first step to answering it honestly. Where the question comes from The idea that African masks are demonic did not originate within the traditional societies that…