The Festival International des Masques et des Arts (International Festival of Masks and the Arts), or FESTIMA, is a cultural

festival 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 ...

celebrating

traditional African masks Traditional African masks play an important role in certain traditional African rituals and ceremonies. Masks serve an important role in rituals or ceremonies with varied purposes like ensuring a good harvest, addressing tribal needs in times ...

held in

Dédougou Dédougou is a city located in western Burkina Faso. It is the capital city of Mouhoun Province and Boucle du Mouhoun Region Boucle du Mouhoun is one of Burkina Faso's 13 administrative regions. It was created on 2 July 2001 and had a populat ...

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 to ...

. (in French) Founded to help preserve traditional cultural practices in the modern age, FESTIMA features masks and traditions from several

West African West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, ...

countries. It is currently held biennially in even-numbered years. The most recent edition, the fifteenth, was held from February 29 to March 7, 2020, in Bankuy. (in French) (in French) (in French)

History

In 1996, a group of Burkinabé students founded ASAMA, the Association for the Protection of Masks, in order to promote and preserve traditional mask practices. One of the concerns is that traditional masks are no longer a regular part of life for many. The masks' origins are religious in nature, historically being associated with

animism Animism (from Latin: ' meaning ' breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things— animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather syst ...

. Animism and other traditional beliefs are minority religions in modern Burkina Faso, with estimates indicating they are practiced by between 7.8 Estimate is from 2010. and 15 percent Estimate is from 2006. (in French) of the population. The majority religion in the country is Islam, which does not use the masks in their ceremonies. However, members of ASAMA believe that traditional masks can still be important culturally even to those for whom they are not important religiously. According to Ki Leonce, executive director of ASAMA, "There are two aspects about masks. One is cult and the other is culture; there might be a religious conflict for people who venerate masks, but there is no conflict from the cultural point." The original FESTIMA, held in 1996, was four days long, and the event has since expanded to seven days. The thirteenth edition of the festival was held from February 27 to March 5, 2016, and featured masks from over 50 communities from six

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...

n countries: Burkina Faso,

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 ...

, Ivory Coast,

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. Mal ...

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

, and

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

. (in French) ASAMA estimated 100,000 people attended the event, including more than 2,000 international tourists. The fourteenth edition was held from February 24 to March 3, 2018. (in French)

Events

The primary events of FESTIMA are the performances, where mask wearers dance, accompanied by musicians playing

hand drums A hand drum is any type of drum that is typically played with the bare hand rather than a stick, mallet, hammer, or other type of beater. Types The following descriptions allude to traditional versions of the drums. Modern synthetic versions are a ...

whistle A whistle is an instrument which produces sound from a stream of gas, most commonly air. It may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a small slide whistle or nose flute type to a lar ...

s, and

balafon The balafon is a gourd-resonated xylophone, a type of struck idiophone. It is closely associated with the neighbouring Mandé, Senoufo and Gur peoples of West Africa, particularly the Guinean branch of the Mandinka ethnic group, but is now f ...

s. Sometimes, a translator is present to interpret the meaning of the dance. Some of the ethnic groups whose traditions are represented are the Bwaba, Marka, and

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 ...

. FESTIMA also includes seminars on historical and cultural topics, storytelling competitions, educational events for children, and a marketplace.

References

{{Portal, Traditional African religion, Senegal, Africa, Mali

External links

Official site
(in French) Masks in Africa Cultural festivals in Burkina Faso Arts in Burkina Faso 1996 establishments in Burkina Faso Burkinabé culture Togolese culture Beninese culture Senegalese culture Ivorian culture Malian culture Traditional African religions