Monday 21 March 2016

African Masks That Are Essential To Art History

By Debra Wood


In different places, we have our own practices and culture that makes the world diverse and beautiful. We can encounter the stories that made their history different from each other which makes us feel connected to the past. There are many things that are still still present today are influence to be carried out.

Art is a god way to bring the past back and can be able to experience how life it was use to be from different places. Africa is known to have great diversity with their culture and spreading uniqueness for so long already. There are African masks that are really famous today because they got a great story behind it.

When something has been crafted before, it is normal that there is a greater story for this one which can give people good ideas. You will be able to see how long they have working for his practice since the Paleolithic period. They even make it out from materials that work perfect for this item such as fabric, metal, even wood.

You can see many art collectors that are into collecting these masks even if does have a great value just to have them. The museums that are showcasing them are not showing the original ones but instead they use the replicas. They would not put them at risk because they all value them properly as well.

These masks were used before when they are doing rituals that can be war or peace preparation, celebrations, harvesting, and initiations. They were worn in different ways that portray meaning on how you put it on. They also need the person that will wear it to bear a strong personality and bear with its spirit.

In a ceremony, they are calling out different spirits and deities that will be there to guide them with the battle they have. They make sure that the process they follow are secured and will depend to whatever reason they have in there. As a part of the ritual are the offerings they could provide to the beings they were calling out.

In the ritual, there will be a stage that the dancer and the one wearing the mask will be able to reach the trance state. This is a way for them to communicate with their ancestors and relay the message to the people. There will be a translator that shall be there to observe and decipher the message for everyone to understand.

In every ritual, they get the musical instruments that would make an impact to the music it produces. They would like to influence the dancer to a strange mood that can make him communicate effectively to the spirits. The mask has been useful to them and would secure that they can apply it on the right way.

This made a lot the present artist to get their ideas with the creations that were made from the past generations. They celebrate what has been created already and were influence on the right way at the same time. It is important for a person to appreciate what they have and everything will work perfectly too.




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