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Makonde Lipiko Mask: Initiation, Spirits, and Transformation in Tanzania
The Makonde people of Tanzania and Mozambique create elaborate helmet masks used in male initiation ceremonies. Discover the symbolism of the Lipiko tradition.
When an African Mask has horns: Does it signify evil?
From my book, Within Carved Lines What is the mask for? I grew up knowing what masquerade means, and now I watch the objects of that tradition sell for sums that could transform the villages they came from. The mask was made to hold a community together, to call the ancestors back, to teach the…
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…
Chamba Masks: A Skull-Shaped Helmet and the Girl Who Was Really a Buffalo
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 represent a single, coherent idea, an ancestor, a spirit of the bush, a moral category of the dead. The Chamba mask, worn along the Benue River in Cameroon and…
Book: Within Carved Lines | The Secret Meanings of African Masks
All that can be said cannot be seen. All that can be seen must never be said. About the book… In Within Carved Lines: Secret Meanings of African Masks, Michael Ukwuma invites readers on an extraordinary journey into the heart of African artistry and spirituality. This captivating book transcends the mere appreciation of African masks…
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…