'Behind the Mask' explores African art
By Lisa Wakeland, Staff Writer
April 10, 2007 | 7:11 p.m.
It is hard to encompass the importance of masks in African cultures in a two-room gallery, but “Behind the Mask” comes close. Instead of including art from all over Africa, the exhibit focuses on masks from Central and West Africa.
In collaboration with the Kennedy Museum of Art, where the exhibit is displayed, “Behind the Mask” combines educational aspects and curatorial duties for a graduate seminar in African Art. Assistant professor and guest curator Dr. Andrea Frohne said her students were enthusiastic toward the project.
“African masks perform roles in many different cultural arenas,” Frohne said. “This multimedia exhibition explores masking traditions within their cultural, aesthetic and performative contexts.”
The masks on display come from 14 different African nations, including Nigeria, Ghana, Mali, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ranging from elaborately decorated faces to simplistic carvings, all masks represent the important function they serve in African culture.
Specific characteristics and symbols on the masks denote their use. Some masks represent the spirit world, while others are used in entertainment or to honor ancestors. In performances involving masks -- known as masquerades -- clothing, dance, music and the audience can contribute to a sense of community in the cultural groups. Performances often honor spirits and provide social guidelines for the living.
Photographs of the masks being used in African cultures, as well as a video and a slideshow projected on the walls of the West Africa and Central Africa rooms, respectively, provide context to the items on display.
“A mask allows a person to escape and temporarily become a different being,” Ellen Hobbs, who donated close to 80 percent of the masks to the exhibit, said. “In Africa, some masks are seen to have a special power or quality that you can gain from wearing them.”
Hobbs, a retired art teacher from Hendersonville, North Carolina, began her fascination with masks during her senior year of high school in 1940 after making papier-mâché masks of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini for a class art project. Her passion led Hobbs to travel the world looking for masks to add to her collection%','xhtml','It is hard to encompass the importance of masks in African cultures in a two-room gallery, but “Behind the Mask” comes close. Instead of including art from all over Africa, the exhibit focuses on masks from Central and West Africa.