Twelve-year-old Layo, a Yoruba girl living in the area of eleventh-century Africa which is now Nigeria, attempts to reject the man who has been chosen to be her husband.
Pictures grotesques, masks, and headdresses of various African tribes as well as exploring the psychological and ideological meaning, and ritual function of masks
African Masks surveys 248 of the finest examples of masks from the Barbier-Mueller Collection, of which 100 are reproduced in stunning color illustrations. Leading scholars on African art describe the masks' historical and religious functions, and their symbolic significance.
"Spirits Speak presents a selection of the most important African masks found in major museums and renowned private collections around the globe: an overview such as has never been compiled in this way before. Artistic mastery, charisma, age and authenticity were paramount selection criteria with only the very best examples representing each well-known mask type. An introductory essay elucidates the conceptual intricacies and varying functions of the masks and sweeps away deep-rooted misunderstandings. Enlightening commentaries offer background information about the function and origins of each mask's use within the ethnic groups from which they originate, and a foldout map places them in their original geographical context."--BOOK JACKET.
This magnificently illustrated book covers each medium or craft in turn and examines in a clear and accessible manner the entire range of Black African art from aesthetic and ethnological points of view.
African Masks surveys 248 of the finest examples of masks from the Barbier-Mueller Collection, of which 100 are reproduced in stunning color illustrations. Leading scholars on African art describe the masks' historical and religious functions, and their symbolic significance.
The photographs of the African masks and carvers in this book represent the Bwa (or Bwaba), Winiama and Mossi peoples of Burkina Faso, and the Bamana and Dogon peoples of Mali. Gaasch acquired many of these masks in the villages where they were carved. When possible, he interviewed the village carvers, the creators, of these dancing masks. Gaasch's interviews with the carvers underscore the cultural context where traditional African world views persist. And, to the extent possible, they give voice to the masks to reveal their own significance.The masks are, in our times, signifiers of cultures increasingly under siege, hostage to religious fanaticism, or to impoverishing globalization. This small book reaffirms the rights of these masks to continue to dance.
A revisionist account of African masquerade carnivals in transnational context that offers readers a unique perspective on the connecting threads between African cultural trends and African American cultural artifacts
Offers a fresh perspective on the Songye and Luba through the study of the Woods Davy Collection Kifwebe masks are ceremonial objects used by the Songye and Luba societies (Democratic Republic of Congo), where they are worn with costumes consisting of a long robe and a long beard made of plant fibres. As in other central African cultures, the same mask can be used in either magical and religious or festive ceremonies. In order to understand Kifwebe masks, it is essential to consider them within the cosmogony of the python rainbow, metalworking in the forge, and other plant and animal signs. Among the Songye, benevolent female masks reveal what is hidden and balance white and red energy associated with two subsequent initiations, the bukishi. Aggressive male masks were originally involved in social control and had a kind of policing role, carried out in accordance with the instructions of village elders. These two male and female forces acted in a balanced way to reinforce harmony within the village. Among the Luba, the masked figures are also benevolent and appear at the new moon, their role being to enhance fertility. Although the male and female masks fulfil functions that do not wholly overlap, they do have features in common: a frontal crest, round and excessively protruding eyes, flaring nostrils, a cube-shaped mouth and lips, stripes, and colors. Art historians and anthropologists have taken increasing interest in Kifwebe masks in recent years.
Maske is an album of Phyllis Galembo's powerful and thrilling masquerade photographs, from Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Zambia, and Haiti. Introduced by art historian Chika Okeke-Agulu, Galembo's pictures describe traditional masqueraders and carnival characters and are themselves works of vivid artistic imagination.