The Truth About Traditional African Masks and Their Use
Traditional African Masks: everything you should know (part 1) is the first in the series of videos on African Masks that will reveal information about the facts, history, making, significance and use of various types of African masks. Some of the questions this video will answer include: what are African masks? What are African masks used for? Who can make an African Mask and how are African masks made?
About this video
In this episode, we shall explore what masks are and how they can be used as educational materials and aids.
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Watch more on SEVICS | AFRICAN MASK TV.
Is a mask just art for your wall?
If you love African art, you probably have a mask or two hanging on your wall. So here is the question. What is a mask? Is it only an expression of art, or is it more?
To answer it, we have to talk about African spirituality. It runs through everything we do. It is in our architecture, our dressing, our dances. Almost nothing is made without some part of it inside.
How African spirituality works
The practice helps us connect with the divine through places, people, things and rituals. Let me give you three examples.
People. In many African cultures, a child born with dreadlocks is believed to be touched by the divine. That child is gifted, or has an important task to perform in life. So the child is treated as special. Later, when many of us became Christians, we started calling such people cultists and satanic. We tried to rid them of the spirit of dreads. It is just hair.
Places. Where a divine presence has been felt, a shrine can stand. Is that not how churches are set up? Where the Lord appeared, where he was born, where this happened and that happened. A place of encounter becomes a place of worship. People go there with special rituals to seek solutions for their lives.
Objects. Some objects are sacred and help us connect better with God. Yes, God. Typical African spirituality believes in one almighty God. That God has servants in the elements, tied to us, who help us on life’s journey. Call them angels if you like. Some Christian churches also honour saints, who are ancestors in faith. Yet we were told our own ancestors were evil and should be cut off, and that we should adopt European ancestors instead. I find that awkward. Maybe I will compare the two in a future video if you want it. Either way, I do not see why one had to be demonised and the other praised.
So what is a mask?
A mask is usually carved from wood. It can also be metal or almost any other material. What makes a mask a mask is not the material. It is the significance it holds. That significance depends on why it was made.
The first reason may shock some people. Masks are not satanic symbols. Many are learning aids.
The mask that is a novel
I have a mask in my sitting room. It is beautiful. Look closely and you will see a bunch of faces. To you it is a mask. To us it is a complete African novel. It is a lesson. Every time you look at it, the whole story comes back, and the lesson with it.
The largest face is a man. He wears jewellery on his neck and a cap on his head. He is a chief, a very rich man. Let us call him Mazi Okoro. Look at his eyes. They are downcast. Look at his lips. They are thin. What does that tell you? He is unhappy.
Mazi Okoro has wealth, but wealth has not made him happy. So he goes looking for happiness. He thinks a wife might do it. He marries. For a while he is happy. Then the joy fades. So he goes again. He marries a second wife. Again, a little happiness, then boredom and unhappiness. Then he takes a mistress, Adaku. Now look at the top of his head. There is another small face there. He is still considering bringing her home as a wife.
You can see where the story goes. Even if he marries Adaku, he will come back to the same place. He will be unhappy again.
So what is the lesson? First, no amount of wealth guarantees happiness. Second, no number of people around you will give it to you. Third, happiness does not come from outside. It comes from discovering yourself on the inside.
I have told this story year after year. Every visitor tries to work out what the mask means, and some sit down to hear the whole story. The mask was made by a Nigerian artist who taught me three years ago. After graduation I would visit his studio and look for something beautiful to buy. Thank you, sir, for this piece.
Masks as our way of writing
So did you know masks could tell stories? They were our people’s way of writing and passing on important lessons. Every morning I meet Mazi Okoro in my sitting room. I think, today is another good day to be content with what I have and make the best of it. Typical African, right?
Your turn
If you had to give this mask a caption in a word or two, what would you call it? Tell me in the comments.
Do you own a mask and want to know what it is, where it is from and what story it carries? Send me photos through Identify a Mask. You can also read How to Decode your Traditional African Mask.