Masks

The use of masks is universal although there may be no word for mask in the culture using them. As transformative objects, they conceal the wearer’s identity but also reveal the meaning of the mask and what it represents. They are used for such diverse aims for it is mind-boggling: as a familiar historical or mythical person or gods or goddess taken from religions, plays, books, folk tales, dramas or mask dances; as priests, shamans, monks and local clerics performing religious or spiritual rituals; as one executing secret rituals known only to those who “get” the emblematic meaning known only to the group; or other “rites of passage” including initiations, creation myths, burials, agricultural events, feasts, dances and dramas where mythological beings, plants, animals, birds or other animate, inanimate or natural objects are in play. In some traditions as in Bali, masks of clowns, village idiots and even those with deformities provide slapstick humor and commentary to amuse the crowd, provide breaks in serious dramas and share public gossip about village denizens. Masks were used in ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome for different purposes and throughout Europe for carnivals, magic practices, pagan celebrations, fertility rituals and other festivities.