Tribal Masks

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.