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Songye Kifwebe Kilume

TITLE: Songye Kifwebe Kilume
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Democratic Republic of the Congo
ETHNICITY: Songye
DESCRIPTION: Bwadi Society Kifwebe Kilume male mask
CATALOG ID: AFCD018
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Bwadi Bwa Kifwebe Society
FUNCTION: Adult Initiation; Secret Society; Social Control; Social Status; War Preparation
AGE: ca. 1970s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: kaolin clay; animal hair

Among the Songye and Luba peoples of central Africa, the Bwadi Bwa Kifwebe Society commands high status, because its members are considered to have magical powers to invoke spirits. Among the masks used by the Kifwebe Society is the Kilume (male) mask here. Kilume masks are danced with a suit of mesh and a long mantle of raffia fiber. The masqueraders were used primarily to enforce social norms, to intimidate enemies in war, to attend male circumcisions, and at bukishi initiations teaching social and religious principles. Today, they exist primarily to preserve tradition and provide entertainment.

The dance of the male Kifwebe masquerader is erratic and energetic, reflecting the intimidating policing role played by this part of the Society.

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Javanese Sita

TITLE: Javanese Sita
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: Indonesia
SUBREGION: Java
ETHNICITY: Javanese
DESCRIPTION: Sita Mask
CATALOG ID: ASID027
MAKER: Ganuh Nugroho AdiNarimo (Surakarta, 1966-)
CEREMONY: Wayang Wong Dance Drama
AGE: 1990s
MAIN MATERIAL: pule wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; polyester strap; steel staples

The Wayang Wong dance drama retells parts of the Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. These epics revolve around the god Rama and his battle with the demon king Ravana, who has abducted Rama’s wife, Sita. Rama is the avatar (earthly embodiment) of the supreme god Vishnu. In the end, Rama retrieves her with the help of the wily monkey god, Hanuman.

This specific mask represents a character known as Sita, also spelled Sinta or Sintha in Indonesia. The mask would be worn by the masquerader biting down on the strap to hold the mask in place. This leaves the character mute throughout the performance.

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Ded Moroz

TITLE: Ded Moroz
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Russia
SUBREGION: Unknown
ETHNICITY: Russian
DESCRIPTION: Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost) Mask
CATALOG ID: EURU001
MAKER: Unknown maker from Voronezh
CEREMONY: Novy God (New Year’s Holiday)
AGE: ca. 1980s
MAIN MATERIAL: thin cardboard
OTHER MATERIALS: primer; paint; lacquer; string

The character Ded Moroz, or Grandfather Frost, is a traditional Slavic version of Santa Claus, who delivers gifts to good children on New Year’s Eve, as opposed to Christmas. He was accompanied by Snegurochka (Snow Maiden), his granddaughter and helper, and is believed to live in the small western Russian town of Veliky Ustyug. He wears long, silver and blue robes and a red furred cap or snowflake crown, carries a magic staff, and sometimes rides a snow sled pulled by horses (troika). The character is believed to predate Christianity and originate in a Slavic winter wizard born of Slavic pagan gods.

The Soviet Union strongly discouraged depictions of Ded Moroz as bourgeois and religious, but remained popular nonetheless as the symbol of New Year’s Holiday, which replaced the forbidden Christmas. In fact, the Dynamo Regional Council, a Soviet fitness and sports promotion organization, organized the production and sale of many kinds of New Year’s mask in many towns, including Leningrad, Rzhev, Vyshny Vokochok, Saratov, and Yaroslavl. Witches, animals, doctors, and even masks representing the Devil were sold.

This specific mask was made in the Dynamo Workshop of the Voronezh Sports Complex, which produced them between 1951 and 1991. The masks were probably designed by the artist S.M. Nyuhin, but little is known about the specific craftswomen who made them. They were originally shaped from mashed paper on gypsum molds; dried with electric heaters; cut and pierced; primed with oil, chalk and glue; and painted and lacquered. In the 1970s, aluminum molds replaced the gypsum and cardboard substituted for paper maché, but the skilled hand painting continued.

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Javanese Cakil

TITLE: Javanese Cakil
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: Indonesia
SUBREGION: Java
ETHNICITY: Javanese
DESCRIPTION: Cakil Mask
CATALOG ID: ASID032
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Topeng Dance Drama; Wayang Wong Dance Drama
AGE: 1930s
MAIN MATERIAL: pule wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint

This mask represents a character known as Cakil, a crab-like demon with a gigantic jaw, who represents persistent greed. It is used in both the Topeng and Wayang Wong. The Topeng dance drama of the island of Java centers around the political history of the region and are called Babad Dalem (Chronicles of the Kings) or Raket. The most popular story centers around the national hero Panji, whose consort Dewi Chandrakirana is abducted by the powerful King Klana Sewandana of Bantarangin.

The Wayang Wong dance drama retell parts of the Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. These epics revolve around the god Rama and his battle with the demon king Ravana, who has abducted Rama’s wife, Sita. In the end, Rama retrieves her with the help of the wily monkey god, Hanuman.

The mask would be worn by the masquerader biting down on the leather strap to hold the mask in place. This leaves the character mute throughout the performance.

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Igbo Agbogho Mmuo

TITLE: Igbo Agbogho Mmuo
TYPE: helmet mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Nigeria
ETHNICITY: Igbo
DESCRIPTION: Agbogho Mmuo (Maiden Spirit) Mask
CATALOG ID: AFNG004
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Agriculture; Funeral; Secret Society; Spirit Invocation
AGE: 1970s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: kaolin clay; pigment

The Igbo are a numerous people inhabiting southern Nigeria. They have a rich masking tradition based on their traditional religion, Odinani, the circumcision ritual of adulthood, and initiation into secret societies. The Agbogho Mmuo, or Maiden Spirit, is a helmet mask intended to represent the spirit of a beautiful female ancestor and is danced during the dry season as part of agricultural rituals, as well as during funerals of prominent members of the masking secret society.

The mask is worn by men only, who imitate the movements of a graceful female to music played on traditional drums and other instruments. Singers also participate and pay tribute to real and past girls. The whiteness of the mask does not idealize light skin, but instead indicates the spirit nature of the girl represented. The elaborate hair style with comb decorations is intended to enhance the beauty of the mask.

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Negrito

TITLE: Negrito Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Mexico
SUBREGION: Michoacán
ETHNICITY: Purépecha
DESCRIPTION: Negrito (Little Black Man) Mask
CATALOG ID: LAMX058
MAKER: Victoriano Salgado Morales (Uruapán, 1920-2012)
CEREMONY: Danza de los Negritos
AGE: early 1970s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: maque lacquer; plaster; dyed sheep skin and wool; ribbons; metal hardware; plastic beads; brass bells; mirrors

The Danza de los Negritos centers around a religious ceremony honoring the baby Jesus around Christmas time, and is performed solely by men from special cofradiás, or fraternal orders. The “negritos” (sometimes simply negros, or blacks) themselves originally represented the black slaves imported into Michoacán to work the sugar cane and indigo plantations. They were feared by the indigenous Purépecha people, possibly because of their association between blackness and power or godhood, and historically the dance represented the negritos as abusive and lecherous.In this, the dancers resembled the moors from the Dance of the Christians and Moors performed in other parts of Mexico.

In the modern dance, strongly influenced by Christian indoctrinization, the negrito continues to honor the white master (now represented by the baby Jesus, however) and punish the indigenous people (the spectators), but the meaning has changed from rebellion to Catholic conformism. The image of the negrito has morphed into a community leader, worshiping Jesus and punishing sinners.

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Ogoni Face Mask

TITLE: Ogoni Face Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Nigeria
ETHNICITY: Ogoni
DESCRIPTION: Face Mask
CATALOG ID: AFNG006
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Entertainment
AGE: ca. 1970s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: oil paint; human hair; cotton cloth

The Ogoni people have managed to maintain much of their precolonial culture, including their masquerading traditions.

Masks are used by the Ogoni for many purposes. Some are reserved for members of secret societies having varying social ranks. Others are mainly for entertainment, and this may be one such mask.

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Kulango Mask

TITLE: Kulango Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Côte d’Ivoire
ETHNICITY: Kulango
DESCRIPTION: Unknown Mask
CATALOG ID: AFCI019
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Adult Initiation (?); Agriculture (?)
AGE: ca. 1990s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: N/A

The Kulango from the northern part of Côte d’Ivoire were ruled by a king and elders who directed community life, based around the agricultural calendar. The Kulango were prosperous merchants who practiced animism and resisted attempts to Islamicize their culture. However, Kulango religion and art suffered from successive incursions by Mandingo slavers and French colonialists. As a result, not much is known about Kulango masking traditions.

This mask was probably used for adult initiation or to promote fertility in agriculture, young women, or both.

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Chhau Rakshasa

TITLE: Chhau Rakshasa
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: India
SUBREGION: West Bengal
ETHNICITY: Bengali
DESCRIPTION: Rakshasa Mask
CATALOG ID: ASIN003
MAKER: Sri Gokul Chandra Rai (Santineketan, West Bengal)
CEREMONY: Purulia Chhau Dance
AGE: 1973
MAIN MATERIAL: paper maché
OTHER MATERIALS: gesso; wire; dyed cloth; tinsel; beads; dyed feathers; paint

Chhau dance is a modern version of a classical Indian dance with tribal origins, originating in the Indian states of Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal. The dance is usually structured around Hindu folk stories exalting the gods Shiva, Devi or Vishnu, and uses both elegant and martial techniques. The Purulia Chhau of West Bengal and the Seraikela dance of Jharkhand most commonly use masks to identify the character portrayed.

This specific mask is of the Purulia type and portrays a rakshasa, an earthbound, bloodthirsty, shape-changing demon. In the Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, rakshasas are numerous and fight on the sides of both good and evil.

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Fang Ngil Mask

TITLE: Fang Ngil Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Equatorial Guinea
ETHNICITY: Fang
DESCRIPTION: Ngil Mask
CATALOG ID: AFGQ001
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Purification; Secret Society; Social Control
AGE: late 20th century
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: kaolin clay

The Fang people inhabit Equatorial Guinea, northern Gabon and Cameroon and are divided between followers of their traditional animist  religion, byeri, and the Catholicism of their French colonizers. The Ngil Secret Society is responsible for social control by assembling in the night to punish sorcerers and purify the village of evil. The Society’s masks are made to resemble the powerful gorilla, and a full suit of raffia fiber is worn to enhance the effect of furriness.

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