ID Number

Title

Item Name

Culture

Material

Place Made

Date Owned

Owner

Owner

Acquisition Date

Source

Source

Measurements

Condition

Accession Number

Description

Kanaga mask. Wooden ceremonial mask that takes the form of a large head attached to a body made of crossed wooden slats. The body forms a double cross. The long, two-toned face has holes cut through the wood for eyes and ears. There is a conical protrusion at the forehead, which sits atop a blade-shaped nose, leading into a prow-shaped jaw with no mouth. Two points hang down on either side of the jaw. Several small holes are bored into the edges of the face. The neck is made of three small columns of wood and is attached to the body by adhesive and thin skin straps with remnants of white fur. The body is made of several slats of wood, one vertically placed, crossed by two horizontal with small vertical slats at both ends, marked to represent digits. The slats are tied to each other by skin and/or fibre straps. The body is also two-toned in colour.

History Of Use

Kanaga masks are made to represent the spirit of the Dogon man who will wear it; they are worn for dama (funerary rites) and sigui (rites of passage). The dama is a ritual marked with music, synchronized dancing and wooden painted masks, with the purpose to guide the innepuru (deceased spirit) into the afterlife and prevent them posing a threat to the innemo (human realm). The ritual starts with drums and bells playing; older men start to dance to demonstrate how the technique is performed, then younger men join. Many masks are worn during the ritual and each has its own meaning and purpose for the ceremony. The dancers move in a line and the Kanaga mask wearers swing their heads in large circles and brush the tops of the masks to the ground, flicking up sand; both moves ward off evil spirits and clear a path for the spirits to depart to the afterlife. When Kanaga masks are worn in a line during the dama, it is said they are connected by a powerful energy that should not be interrupted. The size and complexity of the dama changes according to the significance of the deceased; the greater their importance, the greater the ceremony. The only people allowed to participate in the spectacle of the dama rituals are circumcised men; others may observe from a distance. The other ceremony the Kanaga masks are used in, the sigui, occurs every 60 years after a good harvest. It marks a collective atonement of an older generation and a regeneration of a village as it moves onto the next generation. Participation in a sigui is the second rite of passage to become a man; the first is circumcision. The time between the two rites is spent learning culturally significant practices, including mask crafting. If a Kanaga mask is unpainted, or the paint has faded, the cultural value lessens. This has led to masks being sold to tourists.

Iconographic Meaning

The plank-like superstructure represents a stylized bird and the outstretched arms and legs of the creator deity, Amma. The arms symbolize the sky, while the legs express the expanse of the earth. Traditionally, the masks are painted black and white, with the face sometimes surrounded by red or yellow fibres. The black paint symbolizes water; water symbolizes cleansing and purifying. White paint symbolizes air; air symbolizes guiding the spirit to the afterlife. The red and yellow fibres signify fire and earth, respectively. Red is believed to ward off evil and protect the wearer. Life is symbolized in the use of wood for the mask, which helps with the spirit’s transition between the two worlds.

Specific Techniques

Masks are traditionally made of wood from the Tagoto tree. Due to intensifying desertification, trees outside the village have begun to be “owned” by families in order to preserve them for crafting masks. The Dogon believe in Nyama (a spiritual connection between animals, plants, nature and humans); therefore, cowrie shell offerings are provided to the spirits. The size of the offering depends on personal wealth and the size of the tree. Through the use of this wood, the mask contains energy and they are reserved for specific men.