Masked Performances

Aside from puppetry, masked performances were also very popular in Africa during the 19th century and years before it.

West Africa
Masks were used in masquerades as a part of religious ceremonies to communicate with spirits and ancestors.  Although it was a religious ceremony, the African people treated these ceremonies as more of a performance. Usually carved with extraordinary skill and variety by artists that have had training from a master carver.  The art of mask making is a tradition that has been passed down within a family through generations.  These artist that make the mask were and still hold a respected position in the tribal society.  It is believed that the person that creates the mask embodies the symbolic and social/spiritual knowledge. 

Animal Masks 
Many masks from Africa during this time and even today represent animals.  Many tribes believed that if their masks were like animals then it would help them communicate with the spirits who lived in the forest.  The Bwa and the Nuna use these masks to called on the spirits to stop destruction. The Dogon of Mali also had animal masks and they used them in their complex religion.  They use roughly seventy-eight different types of masks within their three main cults. There ceremonies are mostly kept secret. They have an antelope dance/performance that they would perform for non-Dogons. The antelope played a key role in the Dogons life as it had symbolized a hard working farmer, the Dogons were/are known for being agriculturists.  The video in a later post displays a mask dance that the Dogons would have performed and that is still done today. 


Cultural Beauty 
Masks were used to show a culture's way of seeing feminine beauty. 
In a description found on the Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedia website about masks, "the masks of Punu of Gabon have highly arched eyebrows, almost almond-shaped eyes and a narrow chin. The raised strip running from both sides of the nose to the ears represent jewellery. Dark black hairstyle, tops the mask off. The whiteness of the face represent the whiteness and beauty of the spirit world (Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedia, Africa)."  It also states that it was only the men that were able to wear the masks and they would be the ones performing the dances even though they were depicting a woman.  They would perform with high stilts while wearing the women masks.  The photo below, as described in the caption provided from the Academic Dictionary and Encyclopedia website, is of a 19th century Gabon masks.  

Fang mask used for the ngil ceremony, an inquisitorial search for sorcerers. Wood,Gabon, 19th century http://en.academic.ru/pictures/enwiki/70/Fang_mask_Louvre_MH65-104-1.jpg