Art form
African masks
In the African societies that make them, a mask is rarely an object on its own. It is one part of a masquerade — worn with a full costume, brought to life by music and dance, and understood to bring a spirit, an ancestor or an idea into the community for a ceremony. Masks appear at initiations, funerals, harvests and festivals, and the best-known traditions come from West and Central Africa.
Updated 4 min read
A mask is a performance, not an object
In a museum, an African mask is a carved face on a wall. In use it was never alone. It was worn with a costume of cloth, raffia, leaves or feathers that hid the performer's whole body, it moved to drums and songs, and it appeared at a particular time — a funeral, the end of an initiation, the start of the rains. The person inside disappears; what the audience sees is the character the mask brings.
Many masks belong to societies of initiated men, and in some places of women. Who dances is often a secret, and some masks are not meant to be seen by everyone at all. That is one reason the same object can mean very different things to the people who made it and to a collector who bought it.
What masks are for
- Initiation. Masks mark the passage from childhood to adulthood. Among the Chokwe and related peoples of Angola, the DR Congo and Zambia, masked figures accompany the boys' initiation known as mukanda; Zambia's Makishi masquerade, part of this tradition, is recognised by UNESCO.
- Funerals and ancestors. The Dogon of Mali hold a dama ceremony to end a period of mourning, with dozens of masks, among them the kanaga, whose cross-shaped top has been interpreted in many ways. The Yoruba Egungun masquerade, in layered cloth, brings ancestors back among the living.
- Farming. Bamana farmers in Mali dance chi wara headdresses — carved antelopes, usually in male and female pairs — in honour of the mythical being who taught people to farm.
- Social order and commentary. Yoruba Gelede masquerades in Benin, Nigeria and Togo honour "the mothers" — elderly women, female ancestors and deities — with dances that also satirise behaviour; UNESCO recognised Gelede in 2001. Some masks once judged disputes or enforced rules.
- Entertainment and competition. Among the Dan of Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia, round-eyed racing masks once raced against challengers, while serene, slit-eyed deangle masks are associated with the boys' initiation camps.
Well-known traditions
West Africa. Dogon kanaga and the tall "storied house" masks of Mali; Bamana chi wara; the tall plank masks of the Bwa of Burkina Faso, painted with black, white and red geometric patterns; Senufo face masks; Dan masks; the delicate portrait masks of the Baule of Côte d'Ivoire, which honour particular people; Yoruba Gelede and Egungun; and Igbo maiden-spirit masks in Nigeria.
Central Africa. The white-faced okuyi masks of the Punu of Gabon, danced on stilts; Fang masks of Gabon and Cameroon; the royal masks of the Kuba kingdom in the DR Congo; the Chokwe mwana pwo, an idealised young woman danced by men; the striated kifwebe masks of the Songye; and the beaded elephant masks of the Bamileke kingdoms in Cameroon's Grassfields.
East and Southern Africa. The helmet masks of the Makonde of Mozambique and Tanzania (see Makonde art) and the Gule Wamkulu of the Chewa in Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, whose dancers belong to the Nyau society.
Masks and modern art
In Paris around 1906–07, Picasso, Matisse, Derain and Vlaminck saw and collected African sculpture, and Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907) is the most famous result. The influence was real, but the European artists knew almost nothing about what the masks meant. African artists have since taken the mask back on their own terms: since the 1980s the Beninese artist Romuald Hazoumè has made "masks" from cut plastic jerrycans, a commentary on fuel smuggling, consumption and the Western taste for the exotic.
Buying a mask
Most masks on the market today were made for sale, which is legitimate as long as they are described honestly. Claims that a mask is old, or was "danced", need documented provenance; artificial ageing is common. Many countries restrict the export of old cultural objects. Read how to buy African art before spending real money.
A changing context
Large numbers of masks and figures entered European and American museums during the colonial period. A 2018 report commissioned by the French president from Felwine Sarr and Bénédicte Savoy recommended returning objects taken without consent, and since then returns have accelerated, including the 26 royal treasures France sent back to Benin in 2021.
Related
Masks are part of the wider story of African sculpture, and their costumes belong to the history of African textiles and beadwork. The richest mask traditions are described region by region in West African art and Central African art. For the full picture, start with our short history of African art.