Ceramic Masks

A detailed Summary of Ceramic Masks

Since the earliest times masks have played an important role in the culture of Africa. Masks have varied in appearance and function. Many masks are associated with religious ceremonies, myth, dance, rituals or are concerned with spirits of the dead, rites, or even curing sickness. The mask has been used by the Africans mainly to solve major human and social problems. When a man wears a mask his identity is hidden and the expression on the mask projects a new identity. If the features on the mask are unnatural such as an abstract from an animal, it will make the mask emit a more effective and dramatic identity. Because the person is wearing a mask the human identity is hidden so the viewer is unsettled, this causes the man wearing the mask to be strange or unpredictable, this leads the viewer to become fascinated so the masked man can deceive the viewer.

Masks representing harmful spirits were often used to keep a required balance of power. This type of mask was often associated with secret societies, especially in Africa, which has the greatest variety of masks on Earth.

In ancient Egypt priests used masks to represent gods. Masks were also placed upon the face of mummies to keep alive the appearance of the

· In Mali the N'tomo mask was used at agriculture festivities, in communal work and to prevent illness.

Masks may also be used to help identify the members of a village or tribe by having a certain colour or symbol on the masks to represent the tribe, this feature is very useful

· The Kom inhabit the grasslands in the northwestern province of Cameroon. Their masks are large and heavy and often worn on top of the head, rather than on the face. Masks in Cameroon are a tool of the regulatory societies that assure social control and law enforcement in the community. These societies, known as "Kwifoyn" have secret membership open only to men. It is a privilege for a Kwifoyn member to be accorded the right to own a mask. One of their uses is to dance on the grave of the member, as a parting fraternal gesture of honour, or to celebrate the death of any adult male. In 1986, Lake Nyos in that region of Cameroon, erupted with a deadly cloud of gas that killed more than 1,700 people in surrounding villages, as well as cattle and every other living creature in the area. National Geographic photographers filmed the dance for the dead at a massive memorial service for the victims, in which dancers wore masks such as those in the collection

· In Mali the ammata mask symbolized the means by which the mythological hero descended to earth.

· The Tshokwe are a small ethnic gro

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Approximate Word count = 926
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Arts