What does the Dan mask represent?
Dan masks are sacred objects. Dan masks are used for protection and as a channel for communication with the spirit world. The Dan also carry small ‘passport masks’ for personal protection when they are living away from home.
What is a beete ritual?
In Kwele villages rituals known as “beete” are enacted at times of crisis in order to mobilize the powers of the ancestors. The skulls of important deceased family members are preserved to combat the negative forces that threatened to destroy a community with famine, disease, or war.
Who wears the Dan mask?
Masks are the most important art form of the Dan people of Liberia. The Dan people refer to these masks as gle or ge, terms that refers both to the physical mask and the individual spirits the mask is believed to embody during masquerade performances.
Where does the biombo mask originate from?
the Democratic Republic of Congo
Biombo masks come from the Democratic Republic of Congo in central Africa. They are made and used by people in the Biombo region in the south of the country. The marks usually carved from wood and coloured with red dye from the camwood tree. The eyes are a coffee bean shape.
Where is the Teke mask located?
Lower Congo
Teke (Bateke) mask, painted wood, Teke tribal region, Lower Congo cultural area; in the Musee de l’Homme, Paris. Diameter 34.9 cm.
What does the African Kwele mask represent?
African Kwele mask. The Kwele masks represent the spirits of the forest and the bush and are presented during initiation ceremonies and or at the end of a mourning period to promote well-being within a community. The Kwele masks act as intermediaries between the world of the bush and that of the village.
What are Ekuk and Kwele masks?
‘Ekuk’ means the ‘spirits of the forest’ and the ‘children of the beete’. Kwele masks represent the antelope whose flesh was eaten at the end of the ‘beete’ ritual. Kwele masks have two large horns which sometimes encircle and frame the face. Areas of the face are often painted with white kaolin clay, the color of the spirits.
What is the meaning of Ekuk Kwele?
‘Ekuk’ means the ‘spirits of the forest’ and the ‘children of the beete’. Kwele masks represent the antelope whose flesh was eaten at the end of the ‘beete’ ritual. Kwele masks have two large horns which sometimes encircle and frame the face.
How do the Kwele protect themselves against the power of witchcraft?
T he Kwele believe in witchcraft and blame all their personal and social ills on its influence. The Kwele protect themselves against the power of witchcraft with the ‘beete’ ritual. The ‘beete’ is a ritual that involves purification by the spirits who are represented in the form of ‘ekuk’ masks.
