Common types of African masks include face masks, which fit over the front of the wearer’s face;
helmet masks
, which fit over the entire head; and forehead masks, which work like hats that sit horizontally on top of the head with the wearer’s face covered by fabric.
What three different ways African masks can wear?
African masks are worn in three ways:
As helmets, encasing the entire head
.
As a crest, resting upon the head which is commonly covered by material or fibre to continue the disguise
.
What types of African masks are there?
- Baule Masks. The Baule people are a farming culture from the Ivory Coast in West Africa. …
- Dan Masks. The Dan people, hunters and farmers, also from an area around the Ivory Coast, are known for their finely carved wooden masks in the shape of human faces. …
- Bwa Masks. …
- Kuba Masks.
How do I identify an African mask?
Look for wear from forehead, cheeks, chins and noses
. The mask should look like it’s been handled. 3. Smell the mask for the hint of smoke odor that may have come from a mask being used near ritual fires or stored in houses heated by wood.
What African masks are used for?
Africa possesses a long tradition of masking and it is believed that masks were integral to their culture long before the first century B.C. The wide variety of uses for masks, which
included rituals of myth, creation, and hero worship
, as well as fertility rituals for increase, agricultural festivities, funerals or …
What do the colors on African masks mean?
Red- Life & blood; Gold- Fortune; Blue- Innocence; Green- The earth and Africa as the mother country; Black-
The Unity of the people of Africa
-show their understandings of one selected African mask – Brainstorm ideas for creating their own personal masks.
What are the 6 types of African masks?
- Baule Mask.
- Biombo Mask.
- Bwa Plank Mask.
- Dan Mask.
- Goma Mask.
- Kota Mask.
- Kwele Mask.
- Ligbi Mask.
What does an African mask look like?
They are a
deep, dark green and some are so dark they almost appear black
. Their shiny length is accented by silvery-white veining and deeply scalloped edges outlined by the same striking white. The flowers are similar to jack-in-the-pulpit with a green and white spathe that produces orange-red berries.
What cultures use masks?
They were also widely used among Oceanic peoples of the South Pacific and
among American Indians
. Masks have served an important role as a means of discipline and have been used to admonish. Common in China, Africa, Oceania, and North America, admonitory masks usually completely cover the features of the wearer.
Why are African masks made?
It is believed that the earliest masks were used in
Africa before Paleolithic era
. They represent spirits of animals or ancestors, mythological heroes, moral values or a form of honoring of a person in a symbolic way. They are made from wood, pottery, textiles, copper and bronze.
Are African masks valuable?
Most African masks are fakes
. … If a mask measures up well to all of these, chances are you will have to pay a lot for it. The good news is that these high-quality pieces will most likely appreciate in value. Fakes, reproductions, tourist junk, and authentic-but-inferior masks are not a good investment.
What are the key features of an African mask?
Characteristics of African Masks
Most patterns tend to be
geometrical and symmetrical
and are presented as a form of coded information. Parallel, zigzag, cruciform, curved and spiral lines, representing scarification marks or tattoos, are frequently used to adorn the planes of the mask face.
What are the five elements of African art?
- Resemblance to a human being: …
- Luminosity: …
- Self-composure: …
- Youthfulness: …
- Clarity of form and detail, complexity of composition, balance and symmetry, smoothness of finish:
What Colours are used in African masks?
African masks come in all different colours, such as
red, black, orange, and brown
. In most traditional African cultures, the person who wears a ritual mask conceptually loses his or her human life and turns into the spirit represented by the mask itself.
What color symbolizes Africa?
Black: for the people whose existence as a nation, though not a nation-state, is affirmed by the existence of the flag;
Green
: the abundant and vibrant natural wealth of Africa, the Motherland. Since its existence, a number of African nations have adopted the colors as a symbol of sovereignty and unity.
What do horns symbolize in African culture?
Dwennimmen, literally meaning “ram’s horns,” symbolizes that even the strong have to also be humble. The symbol is a bird’s eye view of two rams butting heads, and the rams’ horns symbolizes strength and humility through the characteristics of a ram.
