Dance Mask
Amazon dance mask made from palm bark with fringe skirt. Painted in black and yellow. For photo see 86.150.
Purchased in Bogota, Colombia. From the Valpais River area (Colombian Amazon). Government subsidized program to encourage native people to make artwork.
See Remarks
- Object: Dance Mask
- Artist: -
- Circa: -
- Dimensions: 61" high 17-1/2" diameter at skirt
- Culture Area: South America / Colombia / Amazon
- Cultural Group: Cubeo / Pami'wa
- Cultural Context: The Pamí’wa, commonly referred to as the Cubeo, live in the present-day countries of Colombia and Brazil and are known for elaborate dance masks made of painted bark cloth. These full-body masks are worn for the mourning, or ónyo (“weeping”), ceremony, a multiday ritual held approximately a year after an individual’s death. The masks represent the spirits of primordial animals who were created by the deity Kúwai at the beginning of time and were prototypes for real species. Made and worn by men, the masks do not come alive until they are danced, thereby creating a connection between ancestral and present-day worlds.
- Donor: Dianne Kagan Smith
- Catalog #: 86.151