The Masks presented in this blog bear witness to the great diversity of cultures, yet they reflect the existence of similar needs, practices and activities in all societies.
The custom of wearing Masks is found at every latitude, but also and above all, the everyday characteres of many objects / situations and people that traces of who once made use of them.
Religious and esoteric associations which crossed linguistic, geographic and cultural boundaries made for these populations the use of masks as a link between them, which they were often used look different and antagonistic to outsiders.
While Masks where the privilege of men, women too wore them at different times and specifc ceremonies, although they may vary from place to place, some elements seem to be recurrent and common to all artistic traditions.
Those masks which were brought into the village from the forest or were displayed during initiation rites, guaranteed social order, imparting the values of the community and punishing transgressors. They had power and a force that made women and fields fertile and allowed life to continue.
When selected people put on a mask, they were amazed at its magical powers because they could feel that a "being" flowing in from the mask took total possession of their body and mind.
Masks and images, know as popular art, are not intended for contemplation. They serve a practical role enabling communication between the world of man and the world of the gods, between the living and the dead. Through spirit and ancestor ceremonies they were upheld and kept alive invoking their protection and propitiating their wrath.
Myths and masks are closely related and give birth to a kind of theatre simultaneously since it is defined as an enactment of a situation or situations through assumption of one or more characters.
Masks, statues and other objects are related to birth, a succession of rituals will be developed during their life and funerals, ceremonies involving their fields as well as protection of borders. To fully appreciate the meaning of these works, it is necessary to relate them to the forms of life, societies and religious beliefs that led to their creation or use.
Masks inside communities may not be moved freely, their circulation is strictly regulated, kept and used by diviners, healers, priests, heads of families, kings, initiation societies and cult associations, these objects are often visible only to very limited number of people or exposed during communal festivities with participation by all.
The evocative and emotional power of Masks and images can offer us a glimpse of those worlds and open their horizons for us, they will speak to us and what they say will be shaped by what we are as well as by what they are.
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