"
Masks have served an important role as a means of discipline and have been used to admonish. Common in China, Africa, Oceania, and
North America, admonitory masks usually completely cover the features of the wearer. Some
African peoples
hold that the first mask to be used was an admonitory one. In one
version of the mask origin, a child, repeatedly told not to, persisted
in following its mother to fetch water. To frighten and
discipline the child, the mother painted a hideous
face
on the bottom of her water gourd. Another version is that the mask was
invented by a secret society to escape recognition while punishing
marauders. In
New Britain, an island of
Papua New Guinea, members of a secret terrorist society called the
Dukduk
appear in monstrous five-foot masks to police, to judge, and to execute
offenders. Aggressive supernatural spirits of an almost demonic nature
are represented by these masks, which are constructed from a variety of
materials, usually including tapa, or
bark cloth, and the pith of certain reeds. These materials are painted in brilliant colours, with brick red and acid green predominating."
No comments:
Post a Comment