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| October 2010 |
| Billie Silvey |
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| Masks around the World |
| Africa Most African masks are made of wood. They are used in religious and social events to represent the ancestors and control forces of good and evil. They unite people with nature. |
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| Masks are found in almost all the cultures of the world. They are used for various purposes--for religious rites, to attract animals needed for food, by actors in drama, by revelers at parties and balls, and for decoration. |
| Carved wooden masks painted in bright colors are used in Korea primarily for dance. They come in different shapes--large, exaggerated circles, ovals and triangles with long pointed chins. |
| Wood or lacquer masks are used in Japanese performances of Kabuki and Noh drama. The art form is old, sophisticated and stylized, with Noh masks representing 80 different characters. |
| Native American masks, crafted of wood or leather, were used for entertainment or spiritual/medicinal purposes. Animal-head masks made by Northwest tribes gave the person wearing them the powers associated with that animal. |
| Aztec masks were made for display, not wearing. The one shown is ceramic, but others were made of stones or inlaid with mosaic with teeth and eyes inserted. |
| Indonesian masks are from Bali, Lombok and Java. They symbolize people, deities and demons and are used for passing down oral history. |
| Drawn from a centuries-old tradition, Venetian masks were made for carnival and masked balls or to disguise the identity for social interactions outside conventions. |
| Dating from Sri Lanka's pre-Buddhist past, masks were worn by shamans for healing dances. |
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| As with much of Egyptian culture, masks were created to be worn by the dead, not the living. This funerary mask of a pharaoh was crafted of gold and precious stones. |