This is a mask made to honor an important dead person. It was worn in the celebration of the persons death. A ceremony will be held where a king or chief will ware the mask and act out the good deeds you have done. Usually these where made for high-ranked and other high government people. The mask symbolizes achievement and wisdom. In Kuba culture, it is believed that if you do not make one of these for the recently deceased, they will haunt your family. These masks are made of carved wood, embroidered palm fronds, beads, shells and pearls. A white long beard means he was a wise old man. There are different patterns that are used by each tribe. All of the decorations show respect. I found these masks interesting because it is different from our customs. I think it would be odd being the person waring the mask in the ceremony because you are waring a mask that represents a dead person and you are suppose to act like them too. Seems creepy to me.
I was actually thinking the same thing, i would feel some type of way wearing this funerary mask to "represent" and act like the deceased person, i would feel like i was mocking them, not honoring them. Also these masks really remind me of Egyptian burials, if i remember correctly when a king or queen (or important) was buried they were mummified and buried with a type of mask often made of gold...i could be wrong but that popped in my mind when we spoke of this mask in class. lol
ReplyDeleteYea I think that is why they where haunted, since they kind of mocked their recently dead. lol
ReplyDeleteBut you have to admit that there is great feeling of devotion that is show here by the detail put into the piece. Now we put someone in the ground and move on - this is a respectful ceremonial piece and I think it is quite honorable that they placed such high esteem on this life passage that an art form was dedicated to it.
ReplyDeleteReally nice and interesting post. I was looking for this kind of information and enjoyed reading this one. Keep posting. Thanks for sharing. dust mask
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