Masks
Concealing one identity to present another.
A mask covers the face to conceal, protect or transform. Masks appear in nearly every human culture and are among the oldest surviving artefacts of ritual life. The recurring idea is transformation — the wearer is understood to become something else rather than merely to hide.
Functions
| Use | Purpose | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Ritual | Embodying a spirit, ancestor or deity | West African, Pacific Northwest |
| Theatrical | Fixing a character type, projecting to a large audience | Greek drama, Noh, commedia dell'arte |
| Funerary | Preserving or idealising the face of the dead | Egyptian, Mycenaean |
| Festive | Licensed inversion of social roles | Carnival, Venetian |
| Protective | Shielding the face | Armour, welding, sport |
Theatrical masks project
Greek theatrical masks exaggerated expression so it read from the back of an open-air amphitheatre seating thousands. Noh masks work in the opposite direction: carved with a neutral expression that appears to change as the actor tilts the head into different light, so the emotion is produced by the performer rather than fixed by the carver.
Making
Materials follow what is locally available and how long the mask must last — wood, leather, cloth, gourd, beaten metal, papier-mâché. A mask made for a single ceremony and then destroyed is built quite differently from one intended to be inherited across generations.