Serpent Mask (Primary Title)
Unknown (Artist)
Serpent masks made by the Bwa are among the most dramatic in all of Africa.Wearing and manipulating the tall mask requires great strength and stamina. To do so, the dancer puts the tall, heavy mask over his head and grips a wooden rod inside the mask to hold it in place as he puts it in motion. Sometimes a performer will twist his head rapidly from side to side, making the mask writhe like a snake. His movements and the mask’s sinuous curves bring the mask to life.
The Bwa regard the wilderness as a realm of both dangerous and life-giving forces. Through masks, they re-create mythical encounters between ancestors and wilderness spirits. The serpent mask celebrates a story in which a python saved a villager’s life by hiding him from raiding warriors in his den. A diviner later instructed the man to create the tall serpent mask in celebration of family and ancestry.
The Bwa regard the wilderness as a realm of both dangerous and life-giving forces. Through masks, they re-create mythical encounters between ancestors and wilderness spirits. The serpent mask celebrates a story in which a python saved a villager’s life by hiding him from raiding warriors in his den. A diviner later instructed the man to create the tall serpent mask in celebration of family and ancestry.
Kathleen Boone Samuels Memorial Fund
“Animals in African Art: From the Familiar to the Marvelous.” New York: The Museum for African Art. 1995.
Arts, Culture and Life Orientation Learning Programme Grade 4, Module 1 (Highlands North, South Africa: Gauteng Institute for Curriculum Development) p. 49, b&w ill, and on website in color.
“Illustrative Learning Programme for Arts and Culture, Grade 4, Module 1, Let’s Work it Out.” Richmond, VA: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 2000.
Roberts, Allen F. Animals in African Art: From the Familiar to the Marvelous. New York: The Museum for African Art, 1995. (plate. 34)
“Illustrative Learning Programme for Arts and Culture, Grade 4, Module 1, Let’s Work it Out.” Richmond, VA: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 2000.
Roberts, Allen F. Animals in African Art: From the Familiar to the Marvelous. New York: The Museum for African Art, 1995. (plate. 34)
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
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