Cameroon Mask. African Traditional Masks. Beautiful Masks Images

Ritual and ceremonial masks are an essential feature of the traditional culture and art of the peoples of Subsaharan and West Africa. While the specific implications associated to ritual masks widely vary in different cultures, some traits are common to most African cultures: for example, masks usually have a spiritual or religious meaning and they are used in ritual dances and social and religious events, and a special status is attributed to the artists that create masks and to those that wear them in ceremonies. In most cases, mask-making is an art that is passed on from father to son, along with the knowledge of the symbolic meanings conveyed by such masks.

Masks are one of the elements of African art that have most evidently influence European and Western art in general; in the 20th century, artistic movements such as cubism, fauvism and expressionism have often taken inspiration from the vast and diverse heritage of African masks. Influences of this heritage can also be found in other traditions such as South- and Central American masked Carnival parades

Ritual and social meanings
In most traditional African cultures, the person who wears a ritual mask conceptually loses his or her identity and "becomes" the spirit represented by the mask itself. This transformation of the mask wearer into a spirit usually relies on other practices, such as specific types of music and dance, or ritual costumes that contribute to conceal the mask-wearer's human identitity. The mask wearer thus becomes a sort of medium that allows for a dialogue between the community and the spirits (usually those of the dead or nature-related spirits). Masked dances are a part of most traditional African ceremonies related to weddings, funerals, initiation rites, and so on. Some of the most complex ritual that have been studied by scholars are found in Nigerian cultures such as those of the Yoruba and Edo peoples, that bear some resemblances to the Western notion of theater.

Cameroon Mask. African Traditional Masks. Beautiful Masks Images

Cameroon Mask. African Traditional Masks. Beautiful Masks Images

Cameroon Mask. African Traditional Masks. Beautiful Masks Images

Cameroon Mask. African Traditional Masks. Beautiful Masks Images

Cameroon Mask. African Traditional Masks. Beautiful Masks Images

Cameroon Mask. African Traditional Masks. Beautiful Masks Images

Cameroon Mask. African Traditional Masks. Beautiful Masks Images

Cameroon Mask. African Traditional Masks. Beautiful Masks Images

Cameroon Mask. African Traditional Masks. Beautiful Masks Images

Cameroon Mask. African Traditional Masks. Beautiful Masks Images

Cameroon Mask. African Traditional Masks. Beautiful Masks Images

Cameroon Mask. African Traditional Masks. Beautiful Masks Images

Cameroon Mask. African Traditional Masks. Beautiful Masks Images

Cameroon Mask. African Traditional Masks. Beautiful Masks Images

Cameroon Mask. African Traditional Masks. Beautiful Masks Images

Cameroon Mask. African Traditional Masks. Beautiful Masks Images

Cameroon Mask. African Traditional Masks. Beautiful Masks Images
From flickr.com