Ritual masks occur throughout the world, and although they tend to share many
characteristics, highly distinctive forms have developed. The function of the
masks may be magical or religious; they may appear in rites of passage or as a
make-up for a form of theatre. Equally masks may disguise a penitent or preside
over important ceremonies; they may help mediate with spirits, or offer a
protective role to the society who utilise their powers.[25]
Biologist Jeremy Griffith has suggested that ritual masks,
as representations of the human face, are extremely revealing of the two
fundamental aspects of the human psychological condition: firstly, the
repression of a cooperative, instinctive self or soul; and secondly, the
extremely angry state of the unjustly condemned conscious thinking egocentric
intellect.[26]
Africa
Masks of Cameroon
There are a wide variety of masks used in Africa. In West Africa, masks are
used in masquerades that form part of religious ceremonies enacted to
communicate with spirits and ancestors. Examples are the masquerades of the Yoruba, Igbo and Edo cultures, including Egungun Masquerades and Northern
Edo Masquerades. The masks are usually carved with an
extraordinary skill and variety by artists who will usually have received their
training as an apprentice to a master carver - frequently it is a tradition that
has been passed down within a family through many generations. Such an artist
holds a respected position in tribal society because of the work that he or she
creates, embodying not only complex craft techniques but also spiritual/social
and symbolic knowledge.[27]
African masks are also used in the Mas or Masquerade of the Caribbean Carnival.
Djolé (also known as Jolé or Yolé) is a
mask-dance from Temine people in Sierra Leone. Males wear the mask, although it
does depict a female.
Fang mask used for the ngil ceremony, an
inquisitorial search for sorcerers. Wood, Gabon, 19th century.
Many African masks represent animals. Some African tribes believe that the
animal masks can help them communicate with the spirits who live in forests or
open savannas. People of Burkina Faso known as the Bwa and Nuna call to the spirit to stop destruction. The
Dogon of Mali have complex religions that also have animal
masks. Their three main cults use seventy-eight different types of masks. Most
of the ceremonies of the Dogon culture are secret, although the antelope dance
is shown to non-Dogons. The antelope masks are rough rectangular boxes with
several horns coming out of the top. The Dogons are expert agriculturists and
the antelope symbolizes a hard working farmer.[28]
Another culture that has a very rich agricultural tradition is the Bamana people of Mali. The antelope (called Chiwara)
is believed to have taught man the secrets of agriculture. Although the Dogons
and Bamana people both believe the antelope symbolises agriculture, they interpret
elements the masks differently. To the Bamana people, swords represent the
sprouting of grain.
Masks may also indicate a culture's ideal of feminine beauty. The masks of Punu of Gabon have highly arched eyebrows, almost
almond-shaped eyes and a narrow chin. The raised strip running from both sides
of the nose to the ears represent jewellery. Dark black hairstyle, tops the mask
off. The whiteness of the face represent the whiteness and beauty of the spirit
world. Only men wear the masks and perform the dances with high stilts despite
the masks representing women. One of the most beautiful representations of
female beauty is the Idia's Mask of Benin in present day Edo State of Nigeria. It is
believed to have been commissioned by a king of Benin in memory of his mother.
To honor his dead mother, the king wore the mask on his hip during special
ceremonies.[29]
The Senoufo people of the Ivory
Coast represent tranquility by making masks with eyes half-shut
and lines drawn near the mouth. The Temne of Sierra Leone use masks with small eyes and mouths
to represent humility and humbleness. They represent wisdom by making bulging
forehead. Other masks that have exaggerated long faces and broad foreheads
symbolize the soberness of one's duty that comes with power. War masks are also
popular. The Grebo of the Ivory Coast and Liberia carve masks
with round eyes to represent alertness and anger, with the straight nose to
represent unwillingness to retreat.[30]
Asaro mudman holding mask, Papua New
Guinea
Today, the qualities of African art are beginning to be more understood
and appreciated. However most African masks are now being produced for the
tourist trade. Although they often show skilled craftsmanship, they nearly
always lack the spiritual character of the traditional tribal masks.
Oceania
The variety and beauty of the masks of Melanesia are almost as highly developed as in
Africa. It is a culture where ancestor worship is dominant and religious
ceremonies are devoted to ancestors. Inevitably many of the mask types relate to
use in these ceremonies and are linked with the activities of secret societies.
The mask is regarded as an instrument of revelation, giving form to the sacred.
This is often accomplished by linking the mask to an ancestral presence, and
thus bringing the past into the present.
As a culture of scattered islands and peninsulars Melanesian mask forms have
developed in a highly diversified fashion, with a great deal of variety in their
construction and aesthetic.[31] 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 and leaves.[32]
North America
A Cherokee ceremonial mask made of
wood.
Kwakwaka'wakw ritual mask (painted wood, fiber
and cord)
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.
Inuit groups vary widely and do not share a common mythology or language. Not
surprisingly their mask traditions are also often different, although their
masks are often made out of driftwood, animal skins, bones and feathers.
Pacific Northwest Coastal indigenous groups were
generally highly skilled woodworkers. Their masks were often master-pieces
of carving, sometimes with movable jaws, or a mask within a mask, and parts
moved by pulling cords. The carving of masks was an important feature of wood
craft, along with many other features that often combined the utilitarian with
the symbolic, such as shields, canoes, poles and houses.
Woodland tribes, especially in the North-East and around the Great
Lakes, cross-fertilized culturally with one another. The Iroquois
made spectacular wooden ‘false face’ masks, used in healing ceremonies and
carved from living trees. These masks appear in a great variety of shapes,
depending on their precise function.
Pueblo
craftsmen produced impressive work for masked religious ritual, especially the
Hopi
and Zuni. The kachinas, god/spirits, frequently take the
form of highly distinctive and elaborate masks that are used in ritual dances.
These are usually made of leather with appendages of fur, feathers or leaves.
Some cover the face, some the whole head and are often highly abstracted forms.
Navajo masks appear to be inspired by the Pueblo
prototypes.[33][34]
In more recent times, masking is a common feature of Mardi
Gras traditions, most notably in New
Orleans. Costumes and masks (originally inspired by masquerade balls) are frequently worn by krewe members on Mardi Gras Day. Laws against
concealing one's identity with a mask are suspended for the day.
Latin America
Aztec mask of Xiuhtecuhtli, c. 1500, of Mixtec-Aztec
provenance
Leather mask hand made by J. C. Velasquez
Distinctive styles of masks began to emerge in pre-Hispanic America about
1200BC, although there is evidence of far older mask forms. In the Andes masks were used to dress the faces of the
dead. These were originally made of fabric but later burial masks were sometimes
made of beaten copper or gold, and occasionally of clay.
For the Aztecs human skulls were prized as war trophies and skull masks were not uncommon. Masks
were also used as part of court entertainments, possibly combining political
with religious significance.
In post-colonial Latin America pre-Columbian traditions merged with Christian
rituals, and syncretic masquerades and ceremonies, such as All Souls/Day of the Dead developed, despite efforts of the
Church to stamp out the indigenous traditions. Masks remain an important feature
of popular carnivals and religious dances, such as The Dance of the Moors and Christians. Mexico, in
particular, retains a great deal of creativity in the production of masks,
encouraged by collectors. Wrestling matches, where it is common for the
participants to wear masks, are very popular and many of the
wrestlers can be considered folk heroes. For instance, the popular wrestler El Santo continued wearing his mask after
retirement, revealed his face briefly only in old age, and was buried wearing
his silver mask.[35][36]
Asia
India/Sri
Lanka/Indo-China
Masked characters, usually divinities, are a central feature of Indian
dramatic forms, many based on depicting the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. Countries that have had strong Indian
cultural influences – Cambodia, Burma, Indonesia, Thailand, and Lao – have developed the Indian
forms, combined with local myths, and developed their own characteristic
styles.
The masks are usually highly exaggerated and formalised, and share an
aesthetic with the carved images of monstrous heads that dominate the facades of
Hindu
and Buddhist temples. These faces or
Kirtimukhas, 'Visages of Glory', are intended to ward off evil and are
associated with the animal world as well as the divine. During ceremonies these
visages are given active form in the great mask dramas of the South and
South-eastern Asian region.[37]
Indonesia
Various Balinese topeng dance masks.
Main article: Topeng
In Indonesia the mask dance predates Hindu-Buddhist influences. It is
believed that the use of masks is related to the cult of the ancestors, which
considered dancers the interpreters of the gods. Native Indonesian tribes such as Dayak have masked Hudoq dance that represents
nature spirits. In Java and Bali masked dance is commonly called topeng
and demonstrated Hindu influences as it often feature epics such as Ramayana and Mahabharata. The native story of Panji also popular in topeng masked dance.
Indonesian topeng dance styles are widely distributed, such as topeng Bali,
Cirebon, Betawi, Malang, Yogyakarta and Solo.
China
A Beijing Opera Mask
In China masks are thought to have originated in ancient religious
ceremonies. Images of people wearing masks have been found in rock paintings
along the Yangtze River. Later mask forms brings together
myths and symbols from Shamanism and Buddhism.[37]
Shigong dance masks were used in shamanic rituals to thank the gods,
while nuo dance masks protected from bad spirits.
Wedding masks were used to pray for good luck and a lasting marriage, and
"Swallowing Animal" masks were associated with protecting the home and
symbolised the "swallowing" of disaster. Opera masks were used in a basic
'Common' form of opera performed without a stage or backdrops. These led to
colourful facial patterns that we see in today's Jingju (Beijing Opera).
Korea
A Korean mask worn by a Talchum performer
Korean masks have a long tradition associated with shamanism and later in ritual dance. Korean masks
were used in war, on both soldiers and their horses; ceremonially, for burial
rites in jade and bronze and for shamanistic ceremonies to drive away evil
spirits; to remember the faces of great historical figures in death masks; and
in the arts, particularly in ritual dances, courtly, and theatrical plays. The
present uses are as miniature masks for tourist souvenirs, or on cell-phones
where they hang as good-luck talismans
See also: Korean mask
Japan
Mask of Tengu
Japanese masks are part of a very old and highly sophisticated and stylized
theatrical tradition. Although the roots are in prehistoric myths and cults they
have developed into refined art forms. The oldest masks are the gigaku.
The form no longer exists, and was probably a type of dance presentation. The
bugaku developed from this – a complex dance-drama that used masks with
moveable jaws.
The nō or noh mask evolved from the gigaku and bugaku and
are acted entirely by men. The masks are worn throughout very long performances
and are consequently very light. The nō mask is the supreme achievement
of Japanese mask-making. Nō masks represent gods, men, women, madmen and
devils, and each category has many sub-divisions. Kyōgen are short farces with their own masks,
and accompany the tragic nō plays. Kabuki is the theatre of modern Japan, rooted in
the older forms, but in this form masks are replaced by painted faces.[38]
Inuit cultures
Inuit groups vary widely and do not share a common mythology or language. Not
surprisingly their mask traditions are also often different, although their
masks are often made out of driftwood, animal skins, bones and feathers.
Middle East
Golden masks excavated in Kalmakareh, Lorestan, Iran. First half of first Millennium BC. National Museum of Iran.
Theatre in the Middle East, as elsewhere, was initially of a ritual nature,
dramatising man's relationship with nature, the gods, and other human beings. It
grew out of sacred rites of myths and legends performed by priests and lay
actors at fixed times and often in fixed locations. Folk theatre — mime, mask,
puppetry, farce, juggling - had a ritual context in that it was performed at
religious or rites of passage such as days of naming, circumcisions, and
marriages. Over time some of these contextual ritual enactments became divorced
from their religious meaning and they were performed throughout the year. Some
2500 years ago, kings and commoners alike were entertained by dance and mime
accompanied by music where the dancers often wore masks, a vestige of an earlier
era when such dances were enacted as religious rites. According to George
Goyan, this practice evoked that of Roman funeral rites where
masked actor-dancers represented the deceased with motions and gestures
mimicking those of the deceased while singing the praise of his life (see
Masks in Performance above).[39]
Europe
Fools Meeting or Parade, Messkirch, Germany
Masks are used throughout Europe, and are frequently integrated into regional
folk celebrations and customs. Old masks are preserved and can be seen in museums
and other collections, and much research has been undertaken into the historical
origins of masks. Most probably represent nature spirits, and as a result many of the
associated customs are seasonal. The original significance would have survived
only until the introduction of Christianity which then incorporated many of the
customs into its own traditions. In the process their meanings were also changed
so, for example, old gods and goddesses were, literally, demonised and
were viewed as mere devils, subjugated to the Abrahamic God.
Many of the masks and characters used in European festivals belong to the
contrasting categories of the 'good', or 'idealised beauty', set against the
'ugly' or 'beastly' and grotesque. This is particularly true of the Germanic and
Central European festivals. Another common type is the Fool, sometimes considered to be the synthesis of
the two contrasting type of Handsome and Ugly.[40]
The oldest representations of masks are animal masks, such as the cave
paintings of Lascaux in the Dordogne in southern France. Such masks survive
in the alpine regions of Austria and Switzerland, and may be connected with
hunting or shamanism, and tend to be particularly associated
with the New Year and Carnival festivals.
The debate about the meaning of these and other mask forms continues in
Europe, where monsters, bears, wild men, harlequins, hobby horses and other fanciful characters appear
in carnivals throughout the continent. It is generally accepted that the masks,
noise, colour and clamour are meant to drive away the forces of darkness and
winter, and open the way for the spirits of light and the coming of spring.[41] In Sardinia
existed the tradition of Mamuthones e Issohadores of Mamoiada; Boes e Merdules of Ottana; Thurpos of Orotelli; S'Urtzu, Su 'Omadore and
Sos Mamutzones of Samugheo.
Another tradition of European masks developed, more self-consciously, from
court and civic events, or entertainments managed by guilds
and co-fraternities. These grew out of the earlier revels and had become evident
by the 15th century in places like Rome, and Venice, where they developed as entertainments to
enliven towns and cities. Thus the Maundy Thursday carnival in St Marks Square in
Venice, attended by the Doge and aristocracy also involved the guilds,
including a guild of maskmakers.[42] There
is evidence of 'commedia dell'arte' inspired Venetian masks and by the late 16th
century the Venetian Carnival began to reach its peak and eventually lasted a
whole 'season' from January until Lent. By the 18th century it was already a
tourist attraction, Goethe saying that he was ugly enough not to need
a mask. The carnival was repressed during the Napoleonic Republic, although in
the 1980s its costumes and the masks aping the C 18th heyday were revived.[43] It
appears other cities in central Europe were influenced by the Venetian
model.
During the Reformation many of these carnival customs began to die out in
Protestant regions, although they seem to have survived in Catholic areas
despite the opposition of the ecclesiastical authorities. So by the 19th century
the carnivals of the relatively wealthy bourgeois town communities, with
elaborate masques and costumes, existed side-by-side with the ragged and
essentially folkloric customs of the rural areas.[44]
Although these civic masquerades and their masks may have retained elements
drawn from popular culture, the survival of carnival in the 19th century was
often a consequence of a self-conscious 'folklore' movement that accompanied the
rise of nationalism in many European countries.[45]
Nowadays during carnival in the Netherlands masks are often
replaced with face paint for more comfort.
In the beginning of the new century, in 19 August 2004, the Bulgarian archeologist Georgi
Kitov discovered a 673g golden mask of a Thracian king in the burial mound "Svetitsata"
near Shipka, Central Bulgaria. It is a very fine piece of workmanship
made out of massive 23к gold. Unlike other masks discovered in the Balkans (of which 3 are in Republic
of Macedonia and two in Greece), it is now kept in the National Archaeological Museum in Sofia. It is considered to be the mask of the Thracian
king Teres.
characteristics, highly distinctive forms have developed. The function of the
masks may be magical or religious; they may appear in rites of passage or as a
make-up for a form of theatre. Equally masks may disguise a penitent or preside
over important ceremonies; they may help mediate with spirits, or offer a
protective role to the society who utilise their powers.[25]
Biologist Jeremy Griffith has suggested that ritual masks,
as representations of the human face, are extremely revealing of the two
fundamental aspects of the human psychological condition: firstly, the
repression of a cooperative, instinctive self or soul; and secondly, the
extremely angry state of the unjustly condemned conscious thinking egocentric
intellect.[26]
Africa
Masks of Cameroon
There are a wide variety of masks used in Africa. In West Africa, masks are
used in masquerades that form part of religious ceremonies enacted to
communicate with spirits and ancestors. Examples are the masquerades of the Yoruba, Igbo and Edo cultures, including Egungun Masquerades and Northern
Edo Masquerades. The masks are usually carved with an
extraordinary skill and variety by artists who will usually have received their
training as an apprentice to a master carver - frequently it is a tradition that
has been passed down within a family through many generations. Such an artist
holds a respected position in tribal society because of the work that he or she
creates, embodying not only complex craft techniques but also spiritual/social
and symbolic knowledge.[27]
African masks are also used in the Mas or Masquerade of the Caribbean Carnival.
Djolé (also known as Jolé or Yolé) is a
mask-dance from Temine people in Sierra Leone. Males wear the mask, although it
does depict a female.
Fang mask used for the ngil ceremony, an
inquisitorial search for sorcerers. Wood, Gabon, 19th century.
Many African masks represent animals. Some African tribes believe that the
animal masks can help them communicate with the spirits who live in forests or
open savannas. People of Burkina Faso known as the Bwa and Nuna call to the spirit to stop destruction. The
Dogon of Mali have complex religions that also have animal
masks. Their three main cults use seventy-eight different types of masks. Most
of the ceremonies of the Dogon culture are secret, although the antelope dance
is shown to non-Dogons. The antelope masks are rough rectangular boxes with
several horns coming out of the top. The Dogons are expert agriculturists and
the antelope symbolizes a hard working farmer.[28]
Another culture that has a very rich agricultural tradition is the Bamana people of Mali. The antelope (called Chiwara)
is believed to have taught man the secrets of agriculture. Although the Dogons
and Bamana people both believe the antelope symbolises agriculture, they interpret
elements the masks differently. To the Bamana people, swords represent the
sprouting of grain.
Masks may also indicate a culture's ideal of feminine beauty. The masks of Punu of Gabon have highly arched eyebrows, almost
almond-shaped eyes and a narrow chin. The raised strip running from both sides
of the nose to the ears represent jewellery. Dark black hairstyle, tops the mask
off. The whiteness of the face represent the whiteness and beauty of the spirit
world. Only men wear the masks and perform the dances with high stilts despite
the masks representing women. One of the most beautiful representations of
female beauty is the Idia's Mask of Benin in present day Edo State of Nigeria. It is
believed to have been commissioned by a king of Benin in memory of his mother.
To honor his dead mother, the king wore the mask on his hip during special
ceremonies.[29]
The Senoufo people of the Ivory
Coast represent tranquility by making masks with eyes half-shut
and lines drawn near the mouth. The Temne of Sierra Leone use masks with small eyes and mouths
to represent humility and humbleness. They represent wisdom by making bulging
forehead. Other masks that have exaggerated long faces and broad foreheads
symbolize the soberness of one's duty that comes with power. War masks are also
popular. The Grebo of the Ivory Coast and Liberia carve masks
with round eyes to represent alertness and anger, with the straight nose to
represent unwillingness to retreat.[30]
Asaro mudman holding mask, Papua New
Guinea
Today, the qualities of African art are beginning to be more understood
and appreciated. However most African masks are now being produced for the
tourist trade. Although they often show skilled craftsmanship, they nearly
always lack the spiritual character of the traditional tribal masks.
Oceania
The variety and beauty of the masks of Melanesia are almost as highly developed as in
Africa. It is a culture where ancestor worship is dominant and religious
ceremonies are devoted to ancestors. Inevitably many of the mask types relate to
use in these ceremonies and are linked with the activities of secret societies.
The mask is regarded as an instrument of revelation, giving form to the sacred.
This is often accomplished by linking the mask to an ancestral presence, and
thus bringing the past into the present.
As a culture of scattered islands and peninsulars Melanesian mask forms have
developed in a highly diversified fashion, with a great deal of variety in their
construction and aesthetic.[31] 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 and leaves.[32]
North America
A Cherokee ceremonial mask made of
wood.
Kwakwaka'wakw ritual mask (painted wood, fiber
and cord)
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.
Inuit groups vary widely and do not share a common mythology or language. Not
surprisingly their mask traditions are also often different, although their
masks are often made out of driftwood, animal skins, bones and feathers.
Pacific Northwest Coastal indigenous groups were
generally highly skilled woodworkers. Their masks were often master-pieces
of carving, sometimes with movable jaws, or a mask within a mask, and parts
moved by pulling cords. The carving of masks was an important feature of wood
craft, along with many other features that often combined the utilitarian with
the symbolic, such as shields, canoes, poles and houses.
Woodland tribes, especially in the North-East and around the Great
Lakes, cross-fertilized culturally with one another. The Iroquois
made spectacular wooden ‘false face’ masks, used in healing ceremonies and
carved from living trees. These masks appear in a great variety of shapes,
depending on their precise function.
Pueblo
craftsmen produced impressive work for masked religious ritual, especially the
Hopi
and Zuni. The kachinas, god/spirits, frequently take the
form of highly distinctive and elaborate masks that are used in ritual dances.
These are usually made of leather with appendages of fur, feathers or leaves.
Some cover the face, some the whole head and are often highly abstracted forms.
Navajo masks appear to be inspired by the Pueblo
prototypes.[33][34]
In more recent times, masking is a common feature of Mardi
Gras traditions, most notably in New
Orleans. Costumes and masks (originally inspired by masquerade balls) are frequently worn by krewe members on Mardi Gras Day. Laws against
concealing one's identity with a mask are suspended for the day.
Latin America
Aztec mask of Xiuhtecuhtli, c. 1500, of Mixtec-Aztec
provenance
Leather mask hand made by J. C. Velasquez
Distinctive styles of masks began to emerge in pre-Hispanic America about
1200BC, although there is evidence of far older mask forms. In the Andes masks were used to dress the faces of the
dead. These were originally made of fabric but later burial masks were sometimes
made of beaten copper or gold, and occasionally of clay.
For the Aztecs human skulls were prized as war trophies and skull masks were not uncommon. Masks
were also used as part of court entertainments, possibly combining political
with religious significance.
In post-colonial Latin America pre-Columbian traditions merged with Christian
rituals, and syncretic masquerades and ceremonies, such as All Souls/Day of the Dead developed, despite efforts of the
Church to stamp out the indigenous traditions. Masks remain an important feature
of popular carnivals and religious dances, such as The Dance of the Moors and Christians. Mexico, in
particular, retains a great deal of creativity in the production of masks,
encouraged by collectors. Wrestling matches, where it is common for the
participants to wear masks, are very popular and many of the
wrestlers can be considered folk heroes. For instance, the popular wrestler El Santo continued wearing his mask after
retirement, revealed his face briefly only in old age, and was buried wearing
his silver mask.[35][36]
Asia
India/Sri
Lanka/Indo-China
Masked characters, usually divinities, are a central feature of Indian
dramatic forms, many based on depicting the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. Countries that have had strong Indian
cultural influences – Cambodia, Burma, Indonesia, Thailand, and Lao – have developed the Indian
forms, combined with local myths, and developed their own characteristic
styles.
The masks are usually highly exaggerated and formalised, and share an
aesthetic with the carved images of monstrous heads that dominate the facades of
Hindu
and Buddhist temples. These faces or
Kirtimukhas, 'Visages of Glory', are intended to ward off evil and are
associated with the animal world as well as the divine. During ceremonies these
visages are given active form in the great mask dramas of the South and
South-eastern Asian region.[37]
Indonesia
Various Balinese topeng dance masks.
Main article: Topeng
In Indonesia the mask dance predates Hindu-Buddhist influences. It is
believed that the use of masks is related to the cult of the ancestors, which
considered dancers the interpreters of the gods. Native Indonesian tribes such as Dayak have masked Hudoq dance that represents
nature spirits. In Java and Bali masked dance is commonly called topeng
and demonstrated Hindu influences as it often feature epics such as Ramayana and Mahabharata. The native story of Panji also popular in topeng masked dance.
Indonesian topeng dance styles are widely distributed, such as topeng Bali,
Cirebon, Betawi, Malang, Yogyakarta and Solo.
China
A Beijing Opera Mask
In China masks are thought to have originated in ancient religious
ceremonies. Images of people wearing masks have been found in rock paintings
along the Yangtze River. Later mask forms brings together
myths and symbols from Shamanism and Buddhism.[37]
Shigong dance masks were used in shamanic rituals to thank the gods,
while nuo dance masks protected from bad spirits.
Wedding masks were used to pray for good luck and a lasting marriage, and
"Swallowing Animal" masks were associated with protecting the home and
symbolised the "swallowing" of disaster. Opera masks were used in a basic
'Common' form of opera performed without a stage or backdrops. These led to
colourful facial patterns that we see in today's Jingju (Beijing Opera).
Korea
A Korean mask worn by a Talchum performer
Korean masks have a long tradition associated with shamanism and later in ritual dance. Korean masks
were used in war, on both soldiers and their horses; ceremonially, for burial
rites in jade and bronze and for shamanistic ceremonies to drive away evil
spirits; to remember the faces of great historical figures in death masks; and
in the arts, particularly in ritual dances, courtly, and theatrical plays. The
present uses are as miniature masks for tourist souvenirs, or on cell-phones
where they hang as good-luck talismans
See also: Korean mask
Japan
Mask of Tengu
Japanese masks are part of a very old and highly sophisticated and stylized
theatrical tradition. Although the roots are in prehistoric myths and cults they
have developed into refined art forms. The oldest masks are the gigaku.
The form no longer exists, and was probably a type of dance presentation. The
bugaku developed from this – a complex dance-drama that used masks with
moveable jaws.
The nō or noh mask evolved from the gigaku and bugaku and
are acted entirely by men. The masks are worn throughout very long performances
and are consequently very light. The nō mask is the supreme achievement
of Japanese mask-making. Nō masks represent gods, men, women, madmen and
devils, and each category has many sub-divisions. Kyōgen are short farces with their own masks,
and accompany the tragic nō plays. Kabuki is the theatre of modern Japan, rooted in
the older forms, but in this form masks are replaced by painted faces.[38]
Inuit cultures
Inuit groups vary widely and do not share a common mythology or language. Not
surprisingly their mask traditions are also often different, although their
masks are often made out of driftwood, animal skins, bones and feathers.
Middle East
Golden masks excavated in Kalmakareh, Lorestan, Iran. First half of first Millennium BC. National Museum of Iran.
Theatre in the Middle East, as elsewhere, was initially of a ritual nature,
dramatising man's relationship with nature, the gods, and other human beings. It
grew out of sacred rites of myths and legends performed by priests and lay
actors at fixed times and often in fixed locations. Folk theatre — mime, mask,
puppetry, farce, juggling - had a ritual context in that it was performed at
religious or rites of passage such as days of naming, circumcisions, and
marriages. Over time some of these contextual ritual enactments became divorced
from their religious meaning and they were performed throughout the year. Some
2500 years ago, kings and commoners alike were entertained by dance and mime
accompanied by music where the dancers often wore masks, a vestige of an earlier
era when such dances were enacted as religious rites. According to George
Goyan, this practice evoked that of Roman funeral rites where
masked actor-dancers represented the deceased with motions and gestures
mimicking those of the deceased while singing the praise of his life (see
Masks in Performance above).[39]
Europe
Fools Meeting or Parade, Messkirch, Germany
Masks are used throughout Europe, and are frequently integrated into regional
folk celebrations and customs. Old masks are preserved and can be seen in museums
and other collections, and much research has been undertaken into the historical
origins of masks. Most probably represent nature spirits, and as a result many of the
associated customs are seasonal. The original significance would have survived
only until the introduction of Christianity which then incorporated many of the
customs into its own traditions. In the process their meanings were also changed
so, for example, old gods and goddesses were, literally, demonised and
were viewed as mere devils, subjugated to the Abrahamic God.
Many of the masks and characters used in European festivals belong to the
contrasting categories of the 'good', or 'idealised beauty', set against the
'ugly' or 'beastly' and grotesque. This is particularly true of the Germanic and
Central European festivals. Another common type is the Fool, sometimes considered to be the synthesis of
the two contrasting type of Handsome and Ugly.[40]
The oldest representations of masks are animal masks, such as the cave
paintings of Lascaux in the Dordogne in southern France. Such masks survive
in the alpine regions of Austria and Switzerland, and may be connected with
hunting or shamanism, and tend to be particularly associated
with the New Year and Carnival festivals.
The debate about the meaning of these and other mask forms continues in
Europe, where monsters, bears, wild men, harlequins, hobby horses and other fanciful characters appear
in carnivals throughout the continent. It is generally accepted that the masks,
noise, colour and clamour are meant to drive away the forces of darkness and
winter, and open the way for the spirits of light and the coming of spring.[41] In Sardinia
existed the tradition of Mamuthones e Issohadores of Mamoiada; Boes e Merdules of Ottana; Thurpos of Orotelli; S'Urtzu, Su 'Omadore and
Sos Mamutzones of Samugheo.
Another tradition of European masks developed, more self-consciously, from
court and civic events, or entertainments managed by guilds
and co-fraternities. These grew out of the earlier revels and had become evident
by the 15th century in places like Rome, and Venice, where they developed as entertainments to
enliven towns and cities. Thus the Maundy Thursday carnival in St Marks Square in
Venice, attended by the Doge and aristocracy also involved the guilds,
including a guild of maskmakers.[42] There
is evidence of 'commedia dell'arte' inspired Venetian masks and by the late 16th
century the Venetian Carnival began to reach its peak and eventually lasted a
whole 'season' from January until Lent. By the 18th century it was already a
tourist attraction, Goethe saying that he was ugly enough not to need
a mask. The carnival was repressed during the Napoleonic Republic, although in
the 1980s its costumes and the masks aping the C 18th heyday were revived.[43] It
appears other cities in central Europe were influenced by the Venetian
model.
During the Reformation many of these carnival customs began to die out in
Protestant regions, although they seem to have survived in Catholic areas
despite the opposition of the ecclesiastical authorities. So by the 19th century
the carnivals of the relatively wealthy bourgeois town communities, with
elaborate masques and costumes, existed side-by-side with the ragged and
essentially folkloric customs of the rural areas.[44]
Although these civic masquerades and their masks may have retained elements
drawn from popular culture, the survival of carnival in the 19th century was
often a consequence of a self-conscious 'folklore' movement that accompanied the
rise of nationalism in many European countries.[45]
Nowadays during carnival in the Netherlands masks are often
replaced with face paint for more comfort.
In the beginning of the new century, in 19 August 2004, the Bulgarian archeologist Georgi
Kitov discovered a 673g golden mask of a Thracian king in the burial mound "Svetitsata"
near Shipka, Central Bulgaria. It is a very fine piece of workmanship
made out of massive 23к gold. Unlike other masks discovered in the Balkans (of which 3 are in Republic
of Macedonia and two in Greece), it is now kept in the National Archaeological Museum in Sofia. It is considered to be the mask of the Thracian
king Teres.