Mask wearing is a practice that is common to people all over the world. In Africa, however, things go a notch higher as masks are not just worn for the sake of it. In some African communities, masks are associated with sacredness and spiritism.
Here are African communities that have a massive tradition of mask-wearing and masquerade celebration.
1. The Dogon people of Mali
The Dogon community in Mali is among African communities with a lot of mask ceremonies commemorating events such as funerals and initiations. Called the Dama, the mask festivals are said to be inspired by the appearance of the brightest star in the sky, Sirius.
The festival is preceded by an initiation ceremony where young men go into seclusion and during their revelation into the society, they wear masks and become eligible for the Society of Masks. While the Dama varies across different villages in the country, it is usually conducted in April and features a ceremony to celebrate people who died within the past year.
Most Malian natives take these festivals with utmost respect and anticipation and may take even a full month to prepare for it.
2. Burkina Faso
For the communities in Burkina Faso, the mask festival is a way to link up with their ancestors. Through frantic music and dancing, the mask wearer is transformed into a spirit and an elder or a wise man translates the message to the people.
Many people hold the spirit in high regard and believe that the mask wearer cannot be overtaken by the spirit because it is too strong and no one would be able to photograph anything.
Burkina Faso was the host of the 2016 FESTIMA, (International Art and Mask Festival in West Africa), which happens every two years.
3. Chewa of Malawi
For the Chewa community in Malawi, a secretive society called Nyau holds a dance and a masquerade to pray or intercede to the ancestors. Called the Gule Wamkulu, or the pemphero lathu lalikulu la mizimu (great prayer to our ancestors) the dance is performed at funerals, initiations and memorial services.
In the dance, masks are designed to look like animals or beasts, which are believed to capture the soul or “spirit of the deceased that brings renewed life.” The masks are also believed to represent all of human life and the spirit world.
Interestingly, the masks are also worn to showcase the kind of person the deceased was in real life. For example, the Chabwera kumanda mask refers to a character who misreads people and often resembles an ancestor known for hunting people in their dreams in order to get attention and offerings.
4. Chokwe, Zambia
The Makishi mask festival is conducted by communities in North-Western and Western Provinces of Zambia. The festival is conducted after the young men return from isolation during their initiation. The young men are then assigned specific masks that remain with them throughout the process.
Each mask has a specific meaning but the most significant mask is the Makishi, which represents an ancestor who travels back to the land of the living to assist the boys. The masquerade is attended by all members of the community to welcome the new young men into society.
5. Egungun, Nigeria
In Nigerian, the Egungun is a Yoruba term referring to masquerades but specifically, it refers to masquerades connected to the reverence of ancestors. The priests and initiates wear elaborate masquerades that come in different layers of fabrics, with the one closest to the wearer skin resembling the shroud used to cover dead bodies.
The lappets, decorated with patchwork patterns, braids, sequins, tassels, and amulets, are made in a way that if the wearer whirls, it creates a ‘breeze of blessing’. Like many other communities, the masquerades in Yoruba become vessels through which the ancestors communicate to the living.
