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Animal African Masks: Lion, Elephant, Bird And More Explained
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Animal figures show up constantly on African masks, and none of it is decoration for decoration’s sake. Each animal usually carries a specific job. Authority. Fertility. Sight into the spirit world. Here is what…
Where African Masks Are Traditionally Kept and Why
An African mask was never meant to exist everywhere. In traditional African societies, masks were carefully placed, moved, and stored according to clear cultural rules. These rules were not arbitrary. They reflected deep understandings of space, function, timing, and social order. This article explains where African masks were traditionally kept, why those locations mattered, and…
Ibibio Masks: The Beautiful Dead and the Ugly Dead, Dancing on Separate Nights
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Some masking traditions sort their spirits by clan, or by animal, or by rank within a secret society. The Ibibio, over two million strong between the Niger Delta and the Cross River in Nigeria,…
Suku Masks: Royal Court Charms in the Southwestern Congo
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Most masks are built to move an audience through performance, through dance, through song. The most feared Suku mask was built to do the opposite. Kakuungu was not supposed to dance at all. Its…
The African Mask That Sold for $4.4 Million: The True Story
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → An old French couple were clearing out an attic. They found a mask nobody in the family had thought twice about in years. They sold it for €150. About $158. Two years later,…
