A mask is an object normally worn on the
face, typically for
protection,
disguise,
performance, or
entertainment
Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...
and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both
ceremonial and
practical
Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that considers words and thought as tools and instruments for prediction, problem solving, and action (philosophy), action, and rejects the idea that the function of thought is to describe, represent, ...
purposes, as well as in the
performing arts and for entertainment. They are usually worn on the face, although they may also be positioned for effect elsewhere on the wearer's body.
More generally in
art history
Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today, ...
, especially
sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...
, "mask" is the term for a face without a body that is not modelled in the round (which would make it a "head"), but for example appears in low
relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
.
Etymology
The word "mask" appeared in English in the 1530s, from
Middle French
Middle French (french: moyen français) is a historical division of the French language that covers the period from the 14th to the 16th century. It is a period of transition during which:
* the French language became clearly distinguished from t ...
''masque'' "covering to hide or guard the face", derived in turn from
Italian ''maschera'', from
Medieval Latin
Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...
''masca'' "mask, specter, nightmare". This word is of uncertain origin, perhaps from
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
''maskharah'' مَسْخَرَۃٌ "buffoon", from the verb ''sakhira'' "to ridicule". However, it may also come from
Provençal ''mascarar'' "to black (the face)" (or the related
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
''mascarar'',
Old French
Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intel ...
''mascurer''). This in turn is of uncertain origin – perhaps from a Germanic source akin to English "mesh", but perhaps from ''mask-'' "black", a borrowing from a
pre-Indo-European language. One German author claims the word "mask" is originally derived from the Spanish ''más que la cara'' (literally, "more than the face" or "added face"), which evolved to "máscara", while the Arabic "maskharat" – referring to the buffoonery which is possible only by disguising the face – would be based on these Spanish roots. Other related forms are
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
''masecha''= "mask"; Arabic ''maskhara'' مَسْخَرَ = "he ridiculed, he mocked", ''masakha'' مَسَخَ = "he transfomed" (
transitive).
History
The use of masks in
ritual
A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized ...
s or
ceremonies
A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion.
The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''.
Church and civil (secula ...
is a very ancient human practice across the world, although masks can also be worn for protection, in hunting, in sports, in feasts, or in wars – or simply used as ornamentation. Some ceremonial or decorative masks were not designed to be worn. Although the religious use of masks has waned, masks are used sometimes in drama therapy or psychotherapy.
One of the challenges in
anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
is finding the precise derivation of human culture and early activities, the invention and use of the mask is only one area of unsolved inquiry. The use of masks dates back several millennia. It is conjectured that the first masks may have been used by primitive people to associate the wearer with some kind of unimpeachable authority, such as a deity, or to otherwise lend credence to the person's claim on a given social role.
The oldest masks that have been discovered are 9,000 years old, being held by the
Musée "Bible et Terre Sainte" (Paris), and the
Israel Museum (Jerusalem).
Most probably the practice of masking is much older however – the earliest known
anthropomorphic artwork is circa 30,000–40,000 years old.
[The oldest known example of the Venus figurines is the Venus of Hohle Fels, carbon-dated as 35,000 to 40,000 years old.] The use of masks is demonstrated graphically at some of these sites. Insofar as masks involved the use of war-paint, leather, vegetative material, or wooden material, such masks failed to be preserved, however, they are visible in
paleolithic cave drawings, of which dozens have been preserved.
[A famous example is the images of the Trois-Frères cave (circa 15,000 years old). According to John W. Nunley, "The earliest evidence of masking comes from the Mousterian site of Hortus in the south of France. There the archaeologist Henry de Lumley found remnants of a leopard skin that was probably worn as a costume more than 40,000 years ago" (Nunley, 1999, p. 22).] At the
neanderthal
Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an Extinction, extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ag ...
Roche-Cotard site in France, a flintstone likeness of a face was found that is approximately 35,000 years old, but it is not clear whether it was intended as a mask.
In the Greek
bacchanalia
The Bacchanalia were unofficial, privately funded popular Roman festivals of Bacchus, based on various ecstatic elements of the Greek Dionysia. They were almost certainly associated with Rome's native cult of Liber, and probably arrived in Rom ...
and the
Dionysus
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...
cult, which involved the use of masks, the ordinary controls on behaviour were temporarily suspended, and people cavorted in merry revelry outside their ordinary rank or status.
René Guénon claims that in the Roman
saturnalia festivals, the ordinary roles were often inverted. Sometimes a slave or a criminal was temporarily granted the insignia and status of royalty, only to be killed after the festival ended. The
Carnival of Venice, in which all are equal behind their masks, dates back to 1268 AD. The use of carnivalesque masks in the Jewish
Purim
Purim (; , ; see Name below) is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, an official of the Achaemenid Empire who was planning to have all of Persia's Jewish subjects killed, as recounted in the Book ...
festivities probably originated in the late 15th century, although some Jewish authors claim it has always been part of Judaic tradition.
The North American
Iroquois
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...
tribes used masks for healing purposes (see
False Face Society
The False Face Society is a medicinal society in the Haudenosaunee, known especially for its wooden masks. Medicine societies are considered a vital part of the well-being of many Indigenous communities. The societies role within communities is to ...
). In the
Himalayas
The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...
, masks functioned above all as mediators of supernatural forces.
Yup'ik masks could be small finger masks, but also masks hung from the ceiling or carried by several people. Masks have been created with plastic surgery for mutilated soldiers.
Masks in various forms – sacred, practical, or playful – have played a crucial historical role in the development of understandings about "what it means to be human", because they permit the imaginative experience of "what it is like" to be transformed into a different identity (or to affirm an existing social or spiritual identity). Not all cultures have known the use of masks, but most of them have.
[Pernet emphasizes that masks are not a wholly universal cultural phenomenon, raising the question why some cultures do not have a masking tradition.]
Masks in performance
Throughout the world, masks are used for their expressive power as a feature of masked performance – both ritually and in various theatre traditions. The
ritual
A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized ...
and
theatrical definitions of mask usage frequently overlap and merge but still provide a useful basis for categorisation. The image of juxtaposed Comedy and Tragedy masks are widely used to represent the Performing Arts, and specifically
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...
.
In many dramatic traditions including the
theatre of ancient Greece
Ancient Greek theatre was a theatrical culture that flourished in ancient Greece from 700 BC. The city-state of Athens, which became a significant cultural, political, and religious place during this period, was its centre, where the theatre w ...
, the classical
Noh drama of Japan (14th century to present), the traditional
Lhamo drama of
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
,
Talchum in Korea, and the
Topeng dance
''Topeng'' (from ban, ᬢᭀᬧᬾᬂ, su, ᮒᮧᮕᮨᮔᮌ, and jv, ꦠꦺꦴꦥꦺꦁ, topeng, mask) is a dramatic form of Indonesian dance in which one or more mask-wearing, ornately costumed performers interpret traditional narratives ...
of
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
, masks were or are typically worn by all the performers, with several different types of mask used for different types of character.
In Ancient Rome, the word ''
persona'' meant 'a mask'; it also referred to an individual who had full
Roman citizenship. A citizen could demonstrate his or her lineage through ''
imagines'',
death masks of the ancestors. These were wax casts kept in a ''
lararium'', the family shrine. Rites of passage, such as initiation of young members of the family, or funerals, were carried out at the shrine under the watch of the ancestral masks. At funerals, professional actors would wear these masks to perform deeds of the lives of the ancestors, thus linking the role of mask as a ritual object and in theatre.
Masks are a familiar and vivid element in many
folk and traditional
pageants,
ceremonies
A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion.
The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''.
Church and civil (secula ...
,
rituals
A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...
, and
festivals
A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival ...
, and are often of an ancient origin. The mask is normally a part of a costume that adorns the whole body and embodies a tradition important to the religious and/or social life of the
community
A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, t ...
as whole or a particular group within the community. Masks are used almost universally and maintain their power and mystery both for their wearers and their audience. The continued popularity of wearing masks at
carnival, and for children at parties and for festivals such as
Halloween are good examples. Nowadays these are usually mass-produced plastic masks, often associated with popular
films,
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
programmes, or
cartoon characters – they are, however, reminders of the enduring power of pretence and play and the power and appeal of masks.
Ritual masks
Ritual masks occur throughout the world, and although they tend to share many characteristics, highly distinctive forms have developed. The function of the masks may be magical or religious; they may appear in rites of passage or as a make-up for a form of theatre. Equally masks may disguise a penitent or preside over important ceremonies; they may help mediate with spirits, or offer a protective role to the members of a society who use their powers.
Biologist
Jeremy Griffith
Jeremy Griffith (born 1945) is an Australian biologist and author. He first came to public attention for his attempts to find the Tasmanian tiger. He later became noted for his writings on the human condition and theories about human progress, w ...
has suggested that ritual masks, as representations of the human face, are extremely revealing of the two fundamental aspects of the human psychological condition: firstly, the repression of a cooperative, instinctive self or soul; and secondly, the extremely angry state of the unjustly condemned conscious thinking egocentric intellect.
In parts of Australia, giant
totem masks cover the body.
Africa
There are a wide variety of masks used in Africa. In West Africa, masks are used in masquerades that form part of religious ceremonies enacted to communicate with spirits and ancestors. Examples are the masquerades of the
Yoruba
The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
,
Igbo, and
Edo
Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo.
Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...
cultures, including
Egungun Masquerades and
Northern Edo Masquerades. The masks are usually carved with an extraordinary skill and variety by artists who will usually have received their training as an apprentice to a master carver – frequently it is a tradition that has been passed down within a family through many generations. Such an artist holds a respected position in tribal society because of the work that he or she creates, embodying not only complex craft techniques but also spiritual/social and symbolic knowledge. African masks are also used in the Mas or Masquerade of the
Caribbean Carnival.
Djolé (also known as Jolé or Yolé) is a mask-dance from Temine people in Sierra Leone. Males wear the mask, although it does depict a female.
Many African masks represent animals. Some African tribes believe that the animal masks can help them communicate with the spirits who live in forests or open savannas. People of
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana t ...
known as the Bwa and
Nuna call to the spirit to stop destruction. The
Dogon of
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...
have complex religions that also have animal masks. Their three main cults use seventy-eight different types of masks. Most of the ceremonies of the Dogon culture are secret, although the antelope dance is shown to non-Dogons. The antelope masks are rough rectangular boxes with several horns coming out of the top. The Dogons are expert agriculturists and the antelope symbolizes a hard-working farmer.
Another culture that has a very rich agricultural tradition is the
Bamana people of Mali. The antelope (called
Chiwara
A Chiwara (also Chi wara, Ci Wara, or Tyi Wara; bm, ciwara; french: tchiwara) is a ritual object representing an antelope, used by the Bambara ethnic group in Mali. The Chiwara initiation society uses Chiwara masks, as well as dances and ritua ...
) is believed to have taught man the secrets of agriculture. Although the Dogons and Bamana people both believe the
antelope symbolises agriculture, they interpret elements the masks differently. To the Bamana people, swords represent the sprouting of grain.
Masks may also indicate a culture's ideal of feminine beauty. The masks of
Punu of
Gabon
Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...
have highly arched eyebrows, almost almond-shaped eyes and a narrow chin. The raised strip running from both sides of the nose to the ears represent jewellery. Dark black hairstyle, tops the mask off. The whiteness of the face represents the whiteness and beauty of the spirit world. Only men wear the masks and perform the dances with high stilts despite the fact that the masks represent women. One of the most beautiful representations of female beauty is the
Idia's Mask of
Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...
in present-day Edo State of Nigeria. It is believed to have been commissioned by a king of Benin in memory of his mother. To honor his dead mother, the king wore the mask on his hip during special ceremonies.
The
Senoufo
The Senufo people, also known as Siena, Senefo, Sene, Senoufo, and Syénambélé, are a West African ethnolinguistic group. They consist of diverse subgroups living in a region spanning the northern Ivory Coast, the southeastern Mali and the west ...
people of the
Ivory Coast represent tranquility by making masks with eyes half-shut and lines drawn near the mouth. The
Temne of
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...
use masks with small eyes and mouths to represent humility and humbleness. They represent wisdom by making bulging forehead. Other masks that have exaggerated long faces and broad foreheads symbolize the soberness of one's duty that comes with power. War masks are also popular. The
Grebo people, Grebo of the Ivory Coast and Liberia carve masks with round eyes to represent alertness and anger, with the straight nose to represent unwillingness to retreat.
Today, the qualities of
African art
African art describes the modern and historical paintings, sculptures, installations, and other visual culture from native or indigenous Africans and the African continent. The definition may also include the art of the African diasporas, such ...
are beginning to be more understood and appreciated. However, most African masks are now being produced for the tourist trade. Although they often show skilled craftsmanship, they nearly always lack the spiritual character of the traditional tribal masks.
Oceania
The variety and beauty of the masks of
Melanesia
Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from Indonesia's New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea.
The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, V ...
are almost as highly developed as in Africa. It is a culture where
ancestor worship is dominant and religious ceremonies are devoted to ancestors. Inevitably, many of the mask types relate to use in these ceremonies and are linked with the activities of secret societies. The mask is regarded as an instrument of revelation, giving form to the sacred. This is often accomplished by linking the mask to an ancestral presence, and thus bringing the past into the present.
As a culture of scattered islands and peninsulars, Melanesian mask forms have developed in a highly diversified fashion, with a great deal of variety in their construction and aesthetic. In Papua New Guinea, six-metre-high totem masks are placed to protect the living from spirits; whereas the ''
duk-duk'' and ''tubuan'' masks of New Guinea are used to enforce social codes by intimidation. They are conical masks, made from cane and leaves.
North America
Arctic
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...
Coastal groups have tended towards simple religious practice but a highly evolved and rich mythology, especially concerning hunting. In some areas, annual
shamanic
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiri ...
ceremonies involved masked dances and these strongly abstracted masks are arguably the most striking artifacts produced in this region.
Inuit groups vary widely and do not share a common mythology or language. Not surprisingly their
mask traditions are also often different, although their masks are often made out of driftwood, animal skins, bones, and feathers. In some areas Inuit women use finger masks during storytelling and dancing.
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Thou ...
Coastal indigenous groups were generally highly skilled
woodworkers. Their masks were often master-pieces of carving, sometimes with movable jaws, or a mask within a mask, and parts moved by pulling cords. The carving of masks was an important feature of wood craft, along with many other features that often combined the utilitarian with the symbolic, such as
shields,
canoes, poles, and houses.
Woodland tribes, especially in the North-East and around the
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...
, cross-fertilized culturally with one another. The
Iroquois
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...
made spectacular wooden ‘
false face’ masks, used in healing ceremonies and carved from living trees. These masks appear in a great variety of shapes, depending on their precise function.
Pueblo craftsmen produced impressive work for masked religious ritual, especially the
Hopi and
Zuni. The ''
kachinas'', god/spirits, frequently take the form of highly distinctive and elaborate masks that are used in ritual dances. These are usually made of leather with appendages of fur, feathers or leaves. Some cover the face, some the whole head and are often highly abstracted forms.
Navajo masks appear to be inspired by the Pueblo prototypes.
In more recent times, masking is a common feature of
Mardi Gras traditions, most notably in
. Costumes and masks (originally inspired by
masquerade balls) are frequently worn by
krewe members on Mardi Gras Day. Laws against concealing one's identity with a mask are suspended for the day.
Latin America
Distinctive styles of masks began to emerge in pre-Hispanic America about 1200 BC, although there is evidence of far older mask forms. In the
Andes
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
, masks were used to dress the faces of the dead. These were originally made of fabric, but later burial masks were sometimes made of beaten
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...
or
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...
, and occasionally of
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay pa ...
.
For the
Aztecs, human skulls were prized as war
trophies, and skull masks were not uncommon. Masks were also used as part of court entertainments, possibly combining political with religious significance.
In post-colonial Latin America,
pre-Columbian
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...
traditions merged with Christian rituals, and syncretic masquerades and ceremonies, such as
All Souls/
Day of the Dead developed, despite efforts of the Church to stamp out the indigenous traditions. Masks remain an important feature of popular carnivals and religious dances, such as
The Dance of the Moors and Christians. Mexico, in particular, retains a great deal of creativity in the production of masks, encouraged by collectors.
Wrestling
Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat s ...
matches, where it is common for the participants to
wear masks, are very popular, and many of the wrestlers can be considered folk heroes. For instance, the popular wrestler
El Santo continued wearing his mask after retirement, revealed his face briefly only in old age, and was buried wearing his silver mask.
Asia
China
In China, masks are thought to have originated in ancient religious ceremonies. Images of people wearing masks have been found in rock paintings along the
Yangtze
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...
. Later mask forms brings together myths and symbols from
shamanism and
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
.
''Shigong'' dance masks were used in shamanic rituals to thank the gods, while
''nuo'' dance masks protected from bad spirits. Wedding masks were used to pray for good luck and a lasting marriage, and "Swallowing Animal" masks were associated with protecting the home and symbolised the "swallowing" of disaster. Opera masks were used in a basic "common" form of opera performed without a stage or backdrops. These led to colourful facial patterns that we see in today's
Peking opera.
India/Sri Lanka/Indo-China
Masked characters, usually divinities, are a central feature of Indian dramatic forms, many based on depicting the epics
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the K ...
and
Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages ...
. Countries that have had strong Indian cultural influences –
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...
,
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
,
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
, and Lao – have developed the Indian forms, combined with local myths, and developed their own characteristic styles.
The masks are usually highly exaggerated and formalised, and share an aesthetic with the carved images of monstrous heads that dominate the facades of
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
and
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
temples. These faces or ''Kirtimukhas'', 'Visages of Glory', are intended to ward off evil and are associated with the animal world as well as the divine. During ceremonies, these visages are given active form in the great mask dramas of the South and South-eastern Asian region.
Indonesia
In Indonesia, the mask dance predates Hindu-Buddhist influences. It is believed that the use of masks is related to the cult of the ancestors, which considered dancers the interpreters of the gods.
Native Indonesian tribes such as
Dayak have masked Hudoq dance that represents nature spirits. In
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...
and
Bali, masked dance is commonly called ''
topeng
''Topeng'' (from ban, ᬢᭀᬧᬾᬂ, su, ᮒᮧᮕᮨᮔᮌ, and jv, ꦠꦺꦴꦥꦺꦁ, topeng, mask) is a dramatic form of Indonesian dance in which one or more mask-wearing, ornately costumed performers interpret traditional narratives c ...
'' and demonstrated Hindu influences as it often feature epics such as ''
Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages ...
'' and ''
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the K ...
''. The native story of
Panji also popular in topeng masked dance. Indonesian topeng dance styles are widely distributed, such as topeng Bali, Cirebon, Betawi, Malang, Yogyakarta, and Solo.
Japan
Japanese masks are part of a very old and highly sophisticated and stylized theatrical tradition. Although the roots are in prehistoric myths and cults, they have developed into refined art forms. The oldest masks are the ''gigaku''. The form no longer exists, and was probably a type of dance presentation. The ''bugaku'' developed from this – a complex dance-drama that used masks with moveable jaws.
The ''nō'' or
noh mask evolved from the gigaku and bugaku and are acted entirely by men. The masks are worn throughout very long performances and are consequently very light. The ''nō'' mask is the supreme achievement of Japanese mask-making. ''Nō'' masks represent gods, men, women, madmen and devils, and each category has many sub-divisions. ''
Kyōgen'' are short farces with their own masks, and accompany the tragic nō plays.
Kabuki
is a classical form of Japanese dance- drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.
Kabuki is thought ...
is the theatre of modern Japan, rooted in the older forms, but in this form masks are replaced by painted faces.
Korea
Korean masks have a long tradition associated with shamanism and later in ritual dance. Korean masks were used in war, on both soldiers and their horses; ceremonially, for burial rites in jade and bronze and for shamanistic ceremonies to drive away evil spirits; to remember the faces of great historical figures in death masks; and in the arts, particularly in ritual dances, courtly, and theatrical plays. The present uses are as miniature masks for tourist souvenirs, or on
mobile phone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...
s, where they hang as good-luck talismans.
Middle East
Theatre in the Middle East, as elsewhere, was initially of a ritual nature, dramatising human relationships with nature, the deities, and other human beings. It grew out of sacred rites of myths and legends performed by priests and lay actors at fixed times and often in fixed locations. Folk theatre – mime, mask, puppetry, farce, juggling – had a ritual context in that it was performed at religious or rites of passage such as days of naming, circumcisions, and marriages. Over time, some of these contextual ritual enactments became divorced from their religious meaning and they were performed throughout the year. Some 2500 years ago, kings and commoners alike were entertained by dance and mime accompanied by music where the dancers often wore masks, a vestige of an earlier era when such dances were enacted as religious rites. According to
George Goyan, this practice evoked that of Roman funeral rites where masked actor-dancers represented the deceased with motions and gestures mimicking those of the deceased while singing the praise of their lives (see '' Masks in Performance'' above).
Europe
The oldest representations of masks in Europe are animal masks, such as the
cave paintings of
Lascaux
Lascaux ( , ; french: Grotte de Lascaux , "Lascaux Cave") is a network of caves near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dordogne in southwestern France. Over 600 parietal wall paintings cover the interior walls and ceilings of t ...
in the
Dordogne
Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is named ...
in southern France. Such masks survive in the alpine regions of Austria and Switzerland, and may be connected with hunting or
shamanism. Masks are used throughout Europe in modern times, and are frequently integrated into regional folk celebrations and customs. Old masks are preserved and can be seen in
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...
s and other collections, and much research has been undertaken into the historical origins of masks. Most probably represent
nature spirits, and as a result many of the associated customs are seasonal. The original significance would have survived only until the introduction of
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...
, which incorporated many of the customs into its own traditions. In that process their meanings were changed also so, for example, old
gods and goddesses originally associated with the celebrations were demonised and viewed as mere
devil
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...
s, or were subjugated to the
Abrahamic God.
Many of the masks and characters used in European festivals belong to the contrasting categories of the 'good', or 'idealised beauty', set against the 'ugly' or 'beastly' and grotesque. This is particularly true of the Germanic and Central European festivals. Another common type is the
Fool, sometimes considered to be the synthesis of the two contrasting types, Handsome and Ugly.
Masks also tend to be associated with New Year and
Carnival festivals.
The debate about the meaning of these and other mask forms continues in Europe, where
monsters,
bears
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the No ...
,
wild men
The wild man, wild man of the woods, or woodwose/wodewose is a mythical figure that appears in the art and literature of medieval Europe, comparable to the satyr or faun type in classical mythology and to '' Silvanus'', the Roman god of the wood ...
,
harlequin
Harlequin (; it, Arlecchino ; lmo, Arlechin, Bergamasque pronunciation ) is the best-known of the '' zanni'' or comic servant characters from the Italian '' commedia dell'arte'', associated with the city of Bergamo. The role is traditional ...
s,
hobby horses, and other fanciful characters appear in carnivals throughout the continent. It is generally accepted that the masks, noise, colour, and clamour are meant to drive away the forces of darkness and winter, and open the way for the spirits of light and the coming of spring. In
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label= Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, aft ...
existed the tradition of ''Mamuthones e Issohadores'' of
Mamoiada; ''Boes e Merdules'' of
Ottana
Ottana ( sc, Otzàna) is a '' comune'' (municipality), former bishopric and Latin titular see in the Province of Nuoro in the Italian region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari and about southwest of Nuoro.
The town is known for its t ...
; ''Thurpos'' of
Orotelli
Orotelli ( sc, Oroteddi) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Nuoro in the Italy, Italian region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari and about west of Nuoro.
Orotelli borders the following municipalities: Bono, Italy, Bono, B ...
; ''S'Urtzu'', ''Su 'Omadore'' and ''Sos Mamutzones'' of
Samugheo
Samugheo is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Oristano in the Italian region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari and about east of Oristano.
Samugheo borders the following municipalities: Allai, Asuni, Atzara, Busachi, ...
.
Another tradition of European masks developed, more self-consciously, from court and civic events, or entertainments managed by
guilds and co-fraternities. These grew out of the earlier revels and had become evident by the 15th century in places such as Rome and
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
, where they developed as entertainments to enliven towns and cities. Thus the
Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday (also known as Great and Holy Thursday, Holy and Great Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Sheer Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries, among other names) is the day during Holy Week that commemorates the Washing of th ...
carnival in St. Marks Square in Venice, attended by the
Doge and aristocracy, also involved the guilds, including a guild of maskmakers. There is evidence of '
commedia dell'arte'-inspired
Venetian masks
The Carnival of Venice ( it, Carnevale di Venezia) is an annual festival held in Venice, Italy. The carnival ends on Shrove Tuesday (''Martedì Grasso'' or Mardi Gras), which is the day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. The festival is ...
and by the late 16th century the Venetian Carnival began to reach its peak and eventually lasted a whole 'season' from January until
Lent
Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Jesus, temptation by Satan, according ...
. By the 18th century, it was already a tourist attraction,
Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...
saying that he was ugly enough not to need a mask. The carnival was repressed during the Napoleonic Republic, although in the 1980s its costumes and the masks aping the 18th century heyday were revived. It appears other cities in central Europe were influenced by the Venetian model.
During the Reformation, many of these carnival customs began to die out in Protestant regions, although they seem to have survived in Catholic areas despite the opposition of the ecclesiastical authorities. So by the 19th century, the carnivals of the relatively wealthy bourgeois town communities, with elaborate masques and costumes, existed side by side with the ragged and essentially folkloric customs of the rural areas.
Although these civic masquerades and their masks may have retained elements drawn from popular culture, the survival of carnival in the 19th century was often a consequence of a self-conscious 'folklore' movement that accompanied the rise of nationalism in many European countries.
Nowadays, during
carnival in the Netherlands masks are often replaced with face paint for more comfort.
In the beginning of the new century, on 19 August 2004, the
Bulgarian archaeologist
Georgi Kitov discovered a 673 g gold mask in the burial mound "Svetitsata" near
Shipka, Central
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
. It is a very fine piece of workmanship made out of massive 23
karat gold. Unlike other masks discovered in the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
(of which three are in
Republic of Macedonia and two in Greece), it is now kept in the
National Archaeological Museum in
Sofia. It is considered to be the mask of a
Thracian
The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...
king, presumably
Teres.
Masks in theatre
Masks play a key part within world theatre traditions, particularly non-western theatre forms. They also continue to be a vital force within contemporary theatre, and their usage takes a variety of forms.
In many cultural traditions, the masked performer is a central concept and is highly valued. In the western tradition, actors in
Ancient Greek theatre wore masks, as they do in traditional Japanese
Noh drama. In some Greek masks, the wide and open mouth of the mask contained a
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wi ...
megaphone enabling the voice of the wearer to be projected into the large auditoria. In medieval Europe, masks were used in mystery and
miracle plays to portray allegorical creatures, and the performer representing God frequently wore a
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...
or gilt mask. During the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...
,
masques and
ballet de cour
''Ballet de cour'' ("court ballet") is the name given to ballets performed in the 16th and 17th centuries at courts.
The court ballet was a gathering of noblemen and women, as the cast and audience were largely supplied by the ruling class. The f ...
developed – courtly masked entertainments that continued as part of
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...
conventions until the late eighteenth century. The masked characters of the
Commedia dell'arte included the ancestors of the modern clown. In contemporary western theatre, the mask is often used alongside
puppetry to create a theatre that is essentially visual, rather than verbal, and many of its practitioners have been visual artists.
Masks are an important part of many theatre forms throughout world cultures, and their usage in theatre has often developed from, or continues to be part of old, highly sophisticated, stylized theatrical traditions.
Contemporary theatre
Masks and
puppets were often incorporated into the theatre work of European
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretica ...
artists from the turn of the nineteenth century.
Alfred Jarry,
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
,
Oskar Schlemmer, other artists of the
Bauhaus
The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...
School, as well as
surrealists and
Dadaists, experimented with theatre forms and masks in their work.
In the 20th century, many theatre practitioners, such as
Meyerhold
Vsevolod Emilyevich Meyerhold (russian: Всеволод Эмильевич Мейерхольд, translit=Vsévolod Èmíl'evič Mejerchól'd; born german: Karl Kasimir Theodor Meyerhold; 2 February 1940) was a Russian and Soviet theatre ...
,
Edward Gordon Craig,
Jacques Copeau
Jacques Copeau (; 4 February 1879 – 20 October 1949) was a French theatre director, producer, actor, and dramatist. Before he founded the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in Paris, he wrote theatre reviews for several Parisian journals, work ...
, and others in their lineage, attempted to move away from Naturalism. They turned to sources such as Oriental Theatre (particularly Japanese
Noh theatre) and
commedia dell'arte,
both of which forms feature masks prominently.
Edward Gordon Craig (1872–1966) in ''A Note on Masks'' (1910) proposed the virtues of using masks over the naturalism of the actor. Craig was highly influential, and his ideas were taken up by
Brecht,
Cocteau,
Genet,
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earli ...
– and later by
Arden,
Grotowski,
Brook
A brook is a small river or natural stream of fresh water. It may also refer to:
Computing
*Brook, a programming language for GPU programming based on C
*Brook+, an explicit data-parallel C compiler
* BrookGPU, a framework for GPGPU programmin ...
, and others who "attempted to restore a ritualistic if not actually religious significance to theatre".
Copeau, in his attempts to "Naturalise" actors,
decided to use masks to liberate them from their "excessive awkwardness". In turn, Copeau's work with masks was taken on by his students including
Etienne Decroux and later, via
Jean Daste and
Jacques Lecoq
Jacques Lecoq (15 December 1921 – 19 January 1999) was a French stage actor and acting movement coach. He was best known for his teaching methods in physical theatre, movement, and mime which he taught at the school he founded in Paris known a ...
.
Lecoq, having worked as movement director at Teatro Piccalo in Italy, was influenced by the Commedia tradition. Lecoq met
Amleto Satori, a sculptor, and they collaborated on reviving the techniques of making traditional leather Commedia masks. Later, developing Copeau's "noble mask", Lecoq would ask Satori to make him ''masques neutre'' (the neutral mask). For Lecoq, masks became an important training tool, the neutral mask being designed to facilitate a state of openness in the student-performers, moving gradually on to character and expressive masks, and finally to "the smallest mask in the world" the clown's red-nose. One highly important feature of Lecoq's use of mask, wasn't so much its visual impact on stage, but how it changed the performers movement on stage. It was a body-based approach to mask work, rather than a visually led one.
Lecoq's pedagogy has been hugely influential for theatre practitioners in Europe working with mask and has been exported widely across the world. This work with masks also relates to
performing with portable structures and
puppetry. Students of Lecoq have continued using masks in their work after leaving the school, such as in
John Wright's ''
Trestle Theatre''.
In America, mask-work was slower to arrive, but the Guerrilla Theatre movement, typified by groups such as the
San Francisco Mime Troupe
The San Francisco Mime Troupe is a theatre of political satire which performs free shows in various parks in the San Francisco Bay Area and around California. The Troupe does not, however, perform silent mime, but each year creates an original ...
and
Bread and Puppet Theatre
The Bread and Puppet Theater (often known simply as Bread & Puppet) is a politically radical puppet theater, active since the 1960s, based in Glover, Vermont . The theater was co-founded by Elka and Peter Schumann. Peter is the artistic direct ...
took advantage of it. Influenced by modern dance, modern mime, Commedia dell'arte and Brecht such groups took to the streets to perform highly political theatre.
Peter Schumann
Peter Schumann (born 11 June 1934) is the co-founder and director of the Bread & Puppet Theater. Born in Silesia, he was a sculptor and dancer in Germany before moving to the United States in 1961. In 1963 he founded Bread & Puppet in New Y ...
, the founder of Bread and Puppet theatre, made particular use of German Carnival masks. Bread and Puppet inspired other practitioners around the world, many of whom used masks in their work. In the US and Canada, these companies include
In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater of
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origin ...
; Arm-of-the Sea Theatre from
New York State
New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. sta ...
; Snake Theater from
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
; and Shadowland Theatre of
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
, Ontario. These companies, and others, have a strong social agenda, and combine masks, music and puppetry to create a visual theatrical form. Another route masks took into American Theatre was via dancer/choreographers such as
Mary Wigman, who had been using masks in dance and had emigrated to America to flee the
Nazi regime.
In Europe, Schumann's influence combined with the early avant-garde artists to encourage groups such as Moving Picture Mime Show and
Welfare State (both in the UK). These companies had a big influence on the next generation of groups working in visual theatre, including IOU and
Horse and Bamboo Theatre
Horse and Bamboo Theatre or Horse + Bamboo Theatre is a British theatre company founded in 1978 by Bob Frith. The company works using masks and visual, puppet, physical, music-based forms rather than text. It works internationally as well as from ...
, who create a theatre in which masks are used along with puppets, film and other visual forms, with an emphasis on the narrative structure.
Functional masks
Masks are also familiar as pieces of kit associated with practical functions, usually protective. There has been a proliferation of such masks recently but there is a long history of protective armour and even medical masks to ward off plague. The contrast with performance masks is not always clear-cut. Ritual and theatrical masks themselves can be considered to be practical, and protective masks in a sports context in particular are often designed to enhance the appearance of the wearer.
Medical
Some masks are used for medical purposes:
*
Oxygen mask, a piece of medical equipment that assists breathing.
*
Anesthetic mask.
*
Burn mask, a piece of medical equipment that protects the burn tissue from contact with other surfaces, and minimises the risk of infection.
*
Surgical mask, a piece of medical equipment that helps to protect both the surgeon and patient from acquiring infection from each other.
*
Face shield, to protect a medical professional from bodily fluids.
*
Pocket mask
A pocket mask, or pocket face mask or CPR mask, is a device used to safely deliver artificial respiration, rescue breaths during a cardiac arrest or respiratory arrest. The specific term "Pocket Mask" is the trademarked name for the product man ...
or ''CPR mask'', used to safely deliver rescue breaths during a cardiac arrest or respiratory arrest.
Protective
Protective masks are pieces of kit or equipment worn on the head and face to afford protection to the wearer, and today usually have these functions:
* Providing a supply of air or filtering the outside air (
respirators and
dust masks).
* Protecting the face against flying objects or dangerous environments, while allowing vision.
In Roman
gladiatorial tournaments masks were sometimes used. From archaeological evidence it is clear that these were not only protective but also helped make the wearer appear more intimidating. In
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
Europe and in Japan soldiers and
samurai
were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They ...
wore similarly ferocious-looking protective
armour, extending to face-masks. In the 16th century, the
Visard was worn by women to protect from
sunburn. Today this function is attributed to thin balaclavas.
In sport the protective mask will often have a secondary function to make the wearer appear more impressive as a competitor.
Before strong transparent materials such as
polycarbonate were invented,
visors to protect the face had to be opaque with small eyeslits, and were a sort of mask, as often in mediaeval suits of
armour, and (for example)
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...
''grímr'' meant "mask or visor".
Disguise
Masks are sometimes used to avoid
recognition
Recognition may refer to:
*Award, something given in recognition of an achievement
Machine learning
*Pattern recognition, a branch of machine learning which encompasses the meanings below
Biometric
* Recognition of human individuals, or biomet ...
. As a disguise the mask acts as a form of protection for the wearer who wishes to assume a role or task without being identified by others.
*
Robbers and other criminal perpetrators may wear masks as a means in concealing their faces and thus identities from their victims and from law enforcement.
* Occasionally a
witness for the
prosecution appears in
court
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...
in a mask to avoid being recognized by associates of the accused.
* Participants in a
black bloc at
protest
A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one.
Protests can be thought of as acts of cooper ...
s usually wear masks, often
bandannas, to avoid recognition, and to try to protect against any
riot control agent
Riot control measures are used by law enforcement, military, paramilitary or security forces to control, disperse, and arrest people who are involved in a riot, unlawful demonstration or unlawful protest.
If a riot is spontaneous and irr ...
s used.
Masks are also used to prevent recognition while showing membership of a group:
* Masks are use by penitents in ceremonies to disguise their identity in order to make the act of penitence more selfless. The
Semana Santa
Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...
parades throughout Spain and in
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...
or
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
countries throughout the world are examples of this, with their cone-shaped masks known as
capirote.
* Masks are used by
vigilante groups.
* The cone-shaped mask in particular is identified with the
Ku Klux Klan in a self-conscious effort to combine the hiding of personal identity with the promotion of a powerful and intimidating image.
* Members of the group
Anonymous frequently wear masks (usually
Guy Fawkes masks, best known from ''
V for Vendetta'') when they attend protests.
While the
niqāb usually shows membership of some
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
ic community, its purpose is not to hinder recognition, although it falls under some
anti-mask laws such as the
French ban on face covering.
Cloth face mask
A cloth face mask is a mask made of common textiles, usually cotton, worn over the mouth and nose. When more effective masks are not available, and when physical distancing is impossible, cloth face masks are recommended by public health agenc ...
s may also be worn as a piece of apparel.
Occupational
* Beaked masks containing herbs in the beak were worn in
early modern Europe by plague doctors to try to ward off the
Black Death.
*
Filter mask
A respirator is a device designed to protect the wearer from inhaling hazardous atmospheres including fumes, vapours, gases and particulate matter such as dusts and airborne pathogens such as viruses. There are two main categories of respir ...
, a piece of safety equipment.
*
Full-face diving mask
A full-face diving mask is a type of diving mask that seals the whole of the diver's face from the water and contains a mouthpiece, demand valve or constant flow gas supply that provides the diver with breathing gas. The full face mask ha ...
as part of
self-contained breathing apparatus for divers and others; some let the wearer talk to others through a built-in communication device
*
Respirator (gas or particulate mask), a mask worn on the face to protect the body from airborne pollutants and toxic materials, and fine
particulate matter or infectious particles.
*
Oxygen mask worn by high-altitude pilots, or used in medicine to deliver oxygen, anesthetic, or other gases to patients
*
Welding mask to protect the welder's face and eyes from the brightness and sparks created during welding
Sports
*
American football helmet face mask
*
Balaclava, also known as a "ski mask", to protect the face against cold air.
*
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
catcher's mask.
*
Diving mask, an item of diving equipment that allows scuba divers, free-divers, and snorkelers to see clearly underwater.
*
Fencing
Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...
mask.
*
Goaltender mask, a mask worn by an
ice or
field hockey
Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...
goaltender to protect the head and face from injury.
*
Hurling helmets were made mandatory in 2010, and have a wire mask on the front to protect the player's face.
*
Kendo, a mask called ''Men'' is used in this Japanese sword-fighting martial art.
*
Paintball mask
Paintball is a competitive team shooting sport in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with spherical dye-filled gelatin capsules called paintballs that break upon impact. Paintballs are usually shot using low-energy a ...
.
*
Visor (ice hockey).
An interesting example of a sports mask that confounds the protective function is the
wrestling mask, a mask most widely used in the Mexican/Latin
lucha libre style of wrestling. In modern lucha libre, masks are colourfully designed to evoke the images of animals,
gods, ancient
hero
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''her ...
es, and other
archetypes
The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis.
An archetype can be any of the following:
# a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ot ...
. The mask is considered "sacred" to some degree, placing its role closer to the ritual and performance function.
Punitive
Masks are sometimes used to punish the wearer either by signalling their humiliation or causing direct suffering:
* Particularly uncomfortable types, such as an iron mask, for example the
Scold's bridle, are fit as devices for humiliation,
corporal punishment or
torture
Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts ...
.
* Masks were used to alienate and ''silence'' prisoners in Australian jails in the late 19th century. They were made of white cloth and covered the face, leaving only the eyes visible.
* Use of masks is also common in
BDSM
BDSM is a variety of often erotic practices or roleplaying involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given the wide range of practices, some of which may be engaged ...
practices.
Fashion
Decorative masks may be worn as part of a costume outside of ritual or ceremonial functions. This is often described as a
masque, and relates closely to
carnival styles. For example, attendants of a costume party will sometimes wear masks as part of their costumes.
Several artists in the 20th and 21st century, such as
Isamaya Ffrench and
Damselfrau
Magnhild Kennedy (born 1978 in Trondheim, Norway), better known professionally as Damselfrau, is a London-based Norwegian artist. She creates wearable art, mostly masks and jewellery. Her masks are presented on her own Instagram account and on seve ...
, create masks as
wearable art
Wearable art, also known as Artwear or "art to wear", refers to art pieces in the shape of clothing or jewellery pieces. These pieces are usually handmade, and are produced only once or as a very limited series. Pieces of clothing are often made ...
.
*
Wrestling masks are used most widely in
Mexican and Japanese wrestling. A wrestler's mask is usually related to a wrestler's
persona (for example, a wrestler known as 'The Panda' might wear a mask with a panda's facial markings). Often, wrestlers will put their masks on the line against other wrestlers' masks, titles or an opponent's hair. While in Mexico and Japan, masks are a sign of tradition, they are looked down upon in the United States and Canada.
* Several bands and performers, notably members of the groups
Slipknot, Mental Creepers and
Gwar
Gwar, often stylized as GWAR, is an American heavy metal band formed in Richmond, Virginia in 1984, composed of and operated by a frequently rotating line-up of musicians, artists and filmmakers collectively known as Slave Pit Inc. After th ...
, and the guitarist
Buckethead, wear masks when they perform on stage. Several other groups, including
Kiss
A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...
,
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guilloti ...
, and
Dimmu Borgir
Dimmu Borgir () is a Norwegian symphonic black metal band from Jessheim, formed in 1993. The name is derived from Dimmuborgir, a volcanic formation in Iceland, the name of which means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic, ...
simulate the effect with facepaint.
Hollywood Undead also wears masks but often remove them mid-performance.
*
Leather-working
Leather crafting or simply leathercraft is the practice of making leather into craft objects or works of art, using shaping techniques, coloring techniques or both.
Techniques
Dyeing
The application of pigments carried by solvents or water in ...
,
steampunk
Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian ...
, and other methods and themes are occasionally used to create
artisanal
An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art, ...
gas masks.
In works of fiction
Masks have been used in many
horror films to conceal the identities of the killer. Notable examples include
Jason Voorhees of the ''
Friday the 13th'' series,
Jigsaw Killer from
Saw,
Ghostface of the ''
Scream'' series, and
Michael Myers of the ''
Halloween'' series.
Other types
* A "
buccal mask
A buccal mask is a mask covering the buccal area and mouth. Often the mask will also cover the nose, in which case it may also be referred to as a naso-buccal mask.
Buccal masks were a common feature in some ancient Mesoamerican cultures and ar ...
" is a mask that covers only the cheeks (hence the adjective "buccal") and mouth.
* A
death mask is a mask either cast from or applied to the face of a recently deceased person.
* A "
facial" (short for facial mask) is a temporary mask, not solid, used in cosmetics or as therapy for skin treatment.
* A "life mask" is a
plaster cast of a face, used as a model for making a painting or sculpture.
* An
animal roleplay mask is used for people to create a more animal-like image in fetish role play.
Gallery
File:Kwakwaka'wakw. Baleen Whale Mask, 19th century.jpg, Kwakwaka'wakw, Baleen Whale Mask, 19th century, Brooklyn Museum
File:Cherokeelongfacemask.png, A Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...
ceremonial mask made of wood
File:Topeng Bali.jpg, Various Balinese topeng dance masks
File:Trommgesellenzunft Munderkingen Wusele Narrentreffen Meßkirch 2006.jpg, Fools Meeting or Parade, Meßkirch
Meßkirch (; Swabian: ''Mässkirch'') is a town in the district of Sigmaringen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.
The town was the residence of the counts of Zimmern, widely known through Count Froben Christoph's ''Zimmern Chronicle'' (1559– ...
, Germany
File:Dance Mask (Takü), 20th century, 61.34.2.jpg, Dance Mask (Takü), 20th century, Brooklyn Museum; These full-body masks are worn for the mourning, or ónyo ("weeping"), ceremony, a multi-day ritual held approximately a year after an individual's death
File:04.02 總統視察「中央流行疫情指揮中心」 49726568957 66543b616e o.jpg, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen wearing a surgical mask during the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
File:Life mask of Ludwig van Beethoven, c. 1812 CE. The Wellcome Collection, London.jpg, Life mask of Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
, c. 1812. The Wellcome Collection, London
File:Lincoln life cast.jpg, Life mask of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...
by Leonard Volk in 1860.
File:Burger - vírus idején (2).jpg, Mask wearing customers in downtown Budapest.
File:NDL-DC 1301455-Utagawa Kuniteru-花のゑん日面売あきふど-cmb.jpg, From the picture album "Shunyū bijo no yukaeri" 19th Century
File:Choregos actors MAN Napoli Inv9986.jpg, Performers with masks. Mosaic. House of the Tragic Poet, Pompeii
File:Maschera di Papposileno.jpg, Mask of Silen. Bronze. First half of 1st century BC
See also
*
Anti-mask law
*
Character mask
*
Pareidolia
*
Domino mask
*
Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic
Notes
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* Hungarian translation of Rasmussen 1926.
* Sivin, Carole (1986). "Maskmaking". Worcester, Massachusetts, USA: Davis Publications, Inc.
* Wilsher, Toby, "The Mask Handbook – A Practical Guide", Routledge 2007, www.routledge.com
External links
Ritual, Masks, and Sacrifice*
Mask Makers of Mas, BaliSmithsonian Institution African Mask LinksVirtual Museum of Death MaskGallery of Masks from Around the WorldCosta Rica Traditional Face Mask
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African clothing