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AP®︎/College Art History
Course: AP®︎/College Art History > Unit 8
Lesson 2: Central Africa- Portrait of King Mishe miShyaang maMbul (Kuba peoples)
- Power Figure, Nkisi Nkondi, Kongo peoples
- Female (pwo) mask (Chokwe peoples)
- Female (pwo) Mask (Chokwe peoples)
- Elephant Mask, Kuosi Society, Bamileke Peoples, Cameroon
- Fang Reliquary Figure
- Lukasa (memory board) (Luba peoples)
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Elephant Mask, Kuosi Society, Bamileke Peoples, Cameroon
The Fang reliquary guardian figure, a wooden sculpture, protected sacred items like bones of important ancestors and potent substances. The figure, with its powerful musculature and calm demeanor, symbolizes strength and respect. It was also used as a puppet during young men's initiations to educate them about their ancestors.
Elephant (Aka) Mask, Kuosi Society, Bamileke Peoples, Grassfields region of Cameroon, 20th century, cloth, beads, raffia, fiber, 146.7 x 52.1 x 29.2 cm (Brooklyn Museum) Speakers: Dr. Peri Klemm and Dr. Steven Zucker. Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.
Elephant (Aka) Mask, Kuosi Society, Bamileke Peoples, Grassfields region of Cameroon, 20th century, cloth, beads, raffia, fiber, 146.7 x 52.1 x 29.2 cm (Brooklyn Museum) Speakers: Dr. Peri Klemm and Dr. Steven Zucker. Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.
Want to join the conversation?
- Why is only the leopard and the elephant a symbol for the king's power?(3 votes)
- It was their religion. Much as how in Christianity it is bread and wine, not meat and potatoes, that represent the body and blood of Christ at the Eucharist.(2 votes)
- In the Kuosi Society, Who exactly wore the Elephant Mask? Meaning was it both men and women? Or just men alone or just the women?(2 votes)
- In the Bamileke, the Kuosi society, who reports directly to the king, is responsible for dramatic masquerading displays. This was formerly a warrior society, whose members today are made up of powerful, wealthy men. There's more in the article found here: http://www.forafricanart.com/Bamileke_ep_38-1.html(4 votes)
- Are these masks a longstanding part of Bamileke people's culture, in this specific form?
I ask since I wonder what the beads themselves are made out of. That incredibly vibrant blue being a hard pigment to find in nature, were the beads trade goods, by way of possible european or middle eastern glass workshops, were they locally manufactured, or are they some kind of local stone?
So I return to the original question, has the overhanging shadow of colonialism helped shape the materials used in these masks, or are they the result of local tradition, local manufacture, and local materials?(3 votes)- Other countries could have brought the beads.(2 votes)
- At, what is the large black spot on the right side of Africa? 0:21
(I know this is off topic but I was just wondering)(2 votes)- Lake Victoria!(2 votes)
- Who did the beadwork? How long did it take to do a mask?(3 votes)
- how many elephant mask would had been wore during the dance and the warrior would it been all of them wearing it?(1 vote)
- Here's the article: http://www.forafricanart.com/Bamileke_ep_38-1.html see if you can find the numbers,(2 votes)
- Atthey were dancing with the masks how do they do it? Did the practice, did they just dance or did they see/talk about it enough to just know how? 1:00(1 vote)
- I think their are holes for the eyes so the people could see.(2 votes)
- What was the scale/size of the elephant mask?(1 vote)
- Underneath the video there was this information: 146.7 x 52.1 x 29.2 cm(1 vote)
- How come the King's and the people with power didn't wear these? Why didn't they wear them there selves if they were the ones with power?(1 vote)
- As was pointed out in the video, the powerful societies wear and dance the masks to honor the king. Kind of like how in Brazil at Carnival, common people belonging to Samba Societies parade to celebrate the holiday. The president isn't in the parade, he (or she) watches.(1 vote)
- How often did this masquerade happen?(1 vote)
- Bamileke masks were usually worn during ceremonies and rituals such as funerals and annual festivals. http://www.forafricanart.com/Bamileke_ep_38-1.html
So, it seems that the ceremonies happened at least once a year, and additionally when someone important died.(1 vote)
Video transcript
(jazzy piano music) - [Voicover] We're in the Brooklyn Museum looking at this magnificent beaded mask. - [Voiceover] This mask
is covered in beads. It was danced by the members
of the Elephant Society, the Kuosi Society, in the
Bamileke kingdom of Cameroon. - [Voiceover] Cameroon is
a country in central Africa but we're seeing this
object hermetically sealed within plexiglass, in a
museum, completely divorced from the way that it would
have been used and understood. in its original context. - [Voiceover] This was a
masquerade, which involved not just a mask, but a costume, performers musicians and attendants
to bring this mask to life to do what it was really supposed to do in terms of honoring the king and bringing about social harmony. - [Voiceover] So we should
not be seeing it frozen, hung as if it was just a piece of cloth. - [Voiceover] This object
was obviously collected and has now a second life
in this museum space. It's very hard for us to
recontextualize it's original use but we know from photographs that the Bamileke Society would wear these with a red feather head
dress, a leopard skin pelt and a full body costume. The leopard and the elephant
were symbols of rule and powerful symbols for the Fon. The Fon was a divine king who could transform into the elephant and the leopard was
thought to be an animal that could transform into a human so we have that connection
between divine rule and the essence of these powerful animals. - [Voiceover] So the Bamileke
that would have worn this would have been court officials,
titleholders, warriors people that held themselves great power and in their association with the leopard and with the elephant would have expressed the power of the king, and in a sense the political stability of
that hierarchical order. - [Voiceover] The Bamileke king, the Fon, allowed this society and only this one to dance the elephant mask
and to wear leopard skin. They were entrusted with these symbols of authority and power. The main form in this beaded piece is the isosceles
triangle, which relates to the patterning on the body of the leopard. - [Voiceover] Highly stylized
though as the entire mask is it's dazzling, and it has
a kind of optical quality that is full of energy and dynamism. - [Voiceover] And imagine
when it's worn and danced and performed, it would
be incredibly dynamic with all of these various
materials and colors and shapes all brought together to
suggest the power of that king. - [Voiceover] And in
Cameroon today the Bamileke still perform this ritual, now annually but instead of warriors performing it these are powerful members of the society. (jazzy piano music)