Mask Makers Web

West Coast Native Indian Art incorporates the use of design and legends to create a unique look unique any other art form in the world. It is strongly characterized by even distribution of weight and movement, so space-filling using traditional forms and legendary figures is an important principle of this art ......... the curve of a fin, may become the beak of a bird whose eye will contain a spirit design and so on. Although traditional ovoid shapes, eye, claw and feather shapes are used, each individual artist incorporates these shapes to his own advantage along with some of his own designs to create unique pieces of art which distinguish his work from others. The symbols of the Native Cultures of the northwest have similar meanings, although the legends associated with them may be slightly different. These explanations are meant to be a guide to a better understanding of what each symbol stands for.

Added on: May 31, 2002 | Hits: 9508

This dance is designated as intangible cultural property in Yamagata hyon in Japan. The 'rice-planting dance', which starts with 'to be happy, to be happy in the spring????', has been launched since the middle age of Edo period in order to pray for good harvest and cheer the farmers.

Added on: Oct 11, 2002 | Hits: 9226

By Susan Cochrane In the Torres Strait Islands there are no art schools and art galleries like on mainland Australia. Many cultural objects are created and enjoyed for local purposes. Dance costumes and accessories are among the most important and distinctive creations of Torres Strait Islander culture. Some of the earliest known examples are the magnificent articulated turtleshell masks, such as those collected by the 1898 Cambridge Expedition to the Torres Strait, which are acknowledged treasures of the Torres Strait people's cultural and artistic heritage.

Added on: Feb 03, 2001 | Hits: 13020

A set of 12 beautifully carved and painted wood pre-colonial Mayan folk masks with real glass eyes and original costumes is now offered on the market for the first time. These 12 masks belong to the Ketchi "Cortez" dance and were made before the turn of the century in Guatamala. They then found their way into the Maya Mountains of Belize where they were used until 1981. There is documentation of their use in Belize's national Independence Day celebration. This is a powerful collection and has a very intersting story about how they had to be exorcized after being acquired. Many wood folk masks from Meso-America, due to the tropical climate and the custom of destroying the masks after their use makes finding an intact collection more than fifty years old very unusual. Most of the folk masks on the market today have been made for the tourist market and have never been used in a legitimate folk ritual. This folk collection was used for more than a hundred years and brings with them the power of their history.

Added on: Mar 30, 2003 | Hits: 9069

African masks are not pieces of wood more or less decorative, but religious symbols that control the life of the village. They are linked with agrarian, funeral, and initiation rites. Each man has to carry out several rites, in order to be considered as a member of the community in his own right. On the other hand, the mask takes the vital strength of a being that runs away out when it dies, to control it, to avoid that it hurts someone, and to distribute it in benefit of the community. During the ritual dance, the bearer is protected by the mask, and it transforms him in another being. He must be dressed not to be recognised. The dress is also considered part of the mask, but the most important thing is the head, where the vital strength is

Added on: Oct 04, 2002 | Hits: 8566

Agayuliyararput is the first exhibition of Native Alaskan Yup'ik material presented from a Yup'ik perspective. This Web exhibit highlights 27 Yup'ik objects from the National Museum of Natural History collection.

Added on: Apr 23, 2001 | Hits: 11065

Balifolder - Bali tourism website Ritual dance drama, mask carving and lots more. Beautiful site.

Added on: Sep 29, 2002 | Hits: 11635

Beautiful masks here. Online sale. " Shop Masks " Masks are powerful receptacles of wandering spirits, the divine and the demonic. For thousands of years masks have been used for rituals, protection and entertainment purposes and are considered sacred objects. Masked dramas, puppet shows, operas and ballets are vehicles of religious teachings in the Indonesian culture. Elaborate dance dramas use masks to bring to life mythological figures. Masked dramas may be performed to appease witches or gods to appeal for their support. Masked dancers are believed to possess the spirits of the mask. The spectacular dance tradition in Bali consists of four traditional drams. The Wayang Wong is drawn from Hindu legends dramatizing the Ramayana and the Mahabhrata. The Barong is a dance that expels evil spirits from villages it involves giant puppets and animals that are seen as protectors. The Topeng or masked theater tells stories of ancient kingdoms and provides a visual for people to relate to their ancestors and the Calonarang which is a call to appease and get the support of Durga, the Queen of witches and Goddess of death.

Added on: Jun 15, 2002 | Hits: 9610

1973, Cameroon Cloth, wood, feathers, porcupine quills, mirrors, herbs, raffia, cowrie shells, knife, basketry rattle, genet skin, and eggshell Height 85 in 216 cm ? Seattle Art Museum, Washington, gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company, 81.17.1977. Photograph by Paul Macapia.

Added on: Nov 22, 2002 | Hits: 11667

these masks show the diversity of facial make-ups and accessories of Chinese Opera. A true demonstration of paper-cut craftsmen's skill...

Added on: Oct 10, 2002 | Hits: 7616

These masks are constructed of wood, leather or skins, silver, tin, cloth, glass beads, oil painted plaster, fur, feathers, or some combination of these materials, with the intent of exaggerating the facial features, particularly the eyes and mouth, of the personage or animal in the dance. Common themes include the devil with horns, old men (Awki), African faces (Moreno), blonde haired/blue eyed men with bullet holes in their foreheads (Chunchus), angels, heroines (China Supay), and animals. Size varies according to the mask. Some are as small as 40 cm. or as large as 170 cm.

Added on: Apr 15, 2003 | Hits: 7993

19 images + descritions

Added on: Apr 15, 2003 | Hits: 7771

Wonderful,bolivian traditonal masks - as they are used today when celebrating the virgin Mary - made from ex unpainted tin from recycled alcohol cans, are sold from this gallery

Added on: Nov 22, 2006 | Hits: 10516

+ 2 photos of masked dancers Boulles is a folk ritual which takes place once a year in Naoussa, Makedonia. It is believed that it originates in ancient Greek celebrations for the coming of Spring. All the dancers are male. They are wearing the traditional foustanella with special additions for the ritual: a breast plate covered with coins, a scarf tied around the waist, a mask and a large scarf covering the head. The picture below shows Boulla - a male dancer in woman's clothes. Boulla represents the Spring (Persephone of the ancient myths), which explains the flowers decorating the veil.

Added on: Aug 28, 2002 | Hits: 9804

Short note and photo of Bulgarian Mask tradition "marks the beginning of the spring calendar. Preparations for it took a longer time. Everybody made himself his own mask competing to show greater personal skill and craftsmanship. Therefore, no two ritual masks were alike. The koukeri's masks and garments are colourful, covered with beads, ribbons, and woollen tassels."

Added on: May 21, 2002 | Hits: 8608

The deaths of villagers are 'celebrated' once or twice a year by the dance of the spirits, performed by dancers with big masks. It is a very energetic dance which, together with the rhythmic music, brings the crowd to great excitement. The dancers are in a sort of competition with each other, each with his group of supporters.

Added on: Oct 10, 2002 | Hits: 7556

Casting Characters -Khmer Mask-making in the workshop of An Sok Surrounded by slanted rooftops and spacious views of the city, the family patriarch An Sok is usually seen hard at work. Walking through the studio, the visitor slowly realizes that the odd football-shaped cement forms lying on the ground are moulds for the faces of the characters of the Reamker, the Khmer version of the Ramagana.

Added on: Jul 19, 2002 | Hits: 7626

Very informative and in italian

Added on: Jan 03, 2001 | Hits: 7873

The Carnival festivities end up with the Funeral of the Mask, (a parody of funeral). The corpse, is the Carnival King, and many mourning "relatives" follow the procession. The whole spectacle is hilarious.

Added on: Aug 28, 2002 | Hits: 8077

Tradition demands it that giants should be carried by men who should slip into the osier bulk so that the first can dance. Yet, the carrying of giants has been in the past few years more and more subsidised by more convenient facilities (giants on wheels, on floats, on platforms, ?). A giant that is not carried cannot dance, and thus, it is not alive!

Added on: Nov 08, 2002 | Hits: 7381

( SCROLL DOWN PAGE TO GET TO THE MASKS ) Borucan craftsman have for centuries created elaborately carved balsa and cedar masks as essential accoutrements of the festival. They originally depicted jaguars, mountain pigs, mythological and ancestral figures (personajes y los antepasados). As resistance to the Conquest grew, the character of the ritual and the masks changed to include ghoulish devils, which is of course a European idea, bearded Spaniards, mules, horses, blacks (from contact with slaves) and, importantly, the bull as the symbol of the Conquest

Added on: Oct 13, 2002 | Hits: 14260

2 part article By Thomas Murray Photography by Don Tuttle Part I: Tribal and Shamanic masks. Part II: The Spread of Buddhism

Added on: Jul 20, 2002 | Hits: 7585

Send a Venice mask on a digital postcard

Added on: Jun 01, 2001 | Hits: 6115

Artist; self-taught Mesoamerican scholar and ethnographer of the arts and crafts of Indian Mexico. Born 1907 in Detroit, Michigan; died August 30, 1978 in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Cordry studied at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and later earned a reputation as an expert on puppets, which he both created and collected. He began collecting artifacts and information documenting Mexican Indian arts and crafts in 1931, on a trip to Mexico. He formed professional associations with the Heye Foundation (now the Museum of the American Indian), which sponsored further trips, and with the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles, California. In 1941 Cordry traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico, and in 1942 founded a crafts workshop there to finance his expeditions to collect and record ethnographic data. He later relocated to Mixcoac, in Mexico City, and Cuernavaca, but kept his home in Mexico and pursued the documentation of its arts and crafts until his death. Publications include: Mexican Indian Costumes (1968) and Mexican Masks (c1980).

Added on: Jul 28, 2002 | Hits: 5046

Preceded by their drummer and many official collectors in white and red, the Giants arrive at 9 am to the splendid City Hall : it's time for the Lord Mayor's speech, pigeon releases, handfulls of sweets, brass bands, afternoon parade with innumerable halts in various bars to refresh the strong porters and the crowd. Douai is drowned under confetti while floats and folklore groups from other countries stream through the city.

Added on: Nov 08, 2002 | Hits: 4839