A mask is normally an object placed on the face for protection, concealment, performance or amusement. Masks have been used for a long time for both ceremonial and practical purposes. Throughout the globe, masks are used for their expressive power in performances, both ritually and in various theatre traditions. The use of a mask can also be magical or religious, in important ceremonies, in which they help mediate with spirits or provide the community protection.
In Africa, there are enormous ranges of masks mainly to perform masquerades that create religious ceremonies to interact with spirits or ancestors. The masks are carved out of wood with great skill by artists who have received training as an apprentice to a master carver, it is often a tradition passed down within a family for many generations. Many of these African masks resemble animals, because some tribes believe that animal masks can help them communicate with spirits that live in the forests and open savannas. Today, these masks are beginning to be more understood and appreciated, however; most African masks are now being sold tourist trade. Although these masks are still carved by skilled craftsman, the masks always lack the spiritual character of the traditional tribal masks.
The variety and beauty of the traditional masks of Melanesia, Oceania, are almost as highly developed as African masks. It is a culture where ancestor worship is common and religious ceremonies are devoted to their ancestors. Many of these masks used in these ceremonies relate to the activities of secret societies. The masks are though as an instrument of revelation, which gives form to the sacred; this is often done by linking the mask to an ancestral presence, like bringing the past into the present. As a culture of scattered islands and peninsulas, Melanesian masks forms have developed in a highly diversified fashion, with a great deal of variety in their construction and aesthetic. In Papua New Guinea six metre-high totem masks are placed to protect the living from spirits; whereas the duk-duk and tubuan masks of New Guinea are used to enforce social codes by intimidation. They are conical masks, made from cane. Arctic Coastal groups have tended towards rudimentary religious practice but a highly evolved and rich mythology, especially concerning hunting. In some areas, annual shamanic ceremonies involved masked dances and these strongly abstracted masks are arguably the most striking artifacts produced in this region.
In the Pacific Northwest Coastal indigenous were generally experienced woodworkers. Their masks were often masterpieces of crafting, sometimes seen with moveable jaws, or a mask within a mask, and parts controlled by pulling cords.
Woodland tribes especially ones in the Northeast, used one culture mixed with their own. The Iroquois made wooden "false face" masks, used in healing ceremonies and carved from living trees. These masks appear in a great variety of shapes, depending on their use.
Pueblo craftsmen produce work for masked religious ritual. These are usually made of leather with appendages of fur, feathers or leaves. Some cover the face, some the whole head and are often highly abstracted forms.
Distinctive styles of masks in South and Central America began to emerge in pre-Hispanic America about 1200BC, although there is evidence of far older mask forms. In the Andes, masks were used to dress the faces of the dead. These were originally made of fabric but later burial masks were sometimes made of beaten copper or gold, and occasionally of clay.
African Mask - Teke Masks
The teke mask originates from the upper Ogowe region Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabon. Members of the Kidumu society wear Teke masks either during a funeral for a chief, for weddings, or important meetings. The name of the Teke people come from the occupation of the tribal Teke-people, that is, trading from Teke, meaning "to buy".
The teke face mask was is a round moon-shaped disk that is completely flat and is decorated with abstract geometric designs, with horizontal stripes that are painted with red or white background and painted over the background would be dark earthy colours such as blue, blacks and browns. These stripes are arranged symmetrically along both vertical and horizontal axis of the African Teke mask and they portray an abstracted interpreted human face and at the same time, the mask is designed with symbols.
Each of these Teke masks are original pieces of art, individually hand-carved. Though these masks are carved with the same style, no two are exactly the same which adds on to the values of these masks.
Teke masks are carved with local wood and are coloured with clay and paint, the mask is carved with a bar at the back of the mask, which the wearer is to hold in place with its teeth.
My Opinion
I like how they used earthy colours to paint the mask and that it looks simple, but carved with a lot of care. The reasons I don't like it is because, it's not so hygienic to put an inedible object into your mouth and because the mask is said to be a flat mask, the nose wouldn't be comfortable.
