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Pende Mask of the Congo: Types, Meanings, and Ceremonial Use
The Pende people of the Democratic Republic of Congo produce some of Africa’s most diverse masks. This guide covers the main types and their ritual roles.
Among the Idoma, roughly 550,000 people living where the Benue and Niger rivers meet, the return of the dead is not a metaphor for memory. It is the central, organizing claim of the entire religious system, the belief from which nearly everything else, which societies exist, what their masks are for, who is allowed to…
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Most masks in this book are worn the way you would expect a mask to be worn, over the face, or as a helmet enclosing the head. The Baga, roughly 60,000 people on the…
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Several masking traditions documented in this book give masked performers real social authority, the power to enforce a rule, collect a debt, or settle a dispute. The Eket, an Ibibio subgroup of farmers numbering…
The Pende people of the Democratic Republic of Congo produce some of Africa’s most diverse masks. This guide covers the main types and their ritual roles.
The Goli masquerade is a four-part performance with distinct mask characters. Explore what each represents and how the ceremony unfolds.