Chapter 2 | PAST AND PRESENT

1. PAST: N’GIL FANG MASKS

This N’gil Fang mask from Central Africa was used long ago during rituals to protect the tribe against criminals. The mask consists of an elongated head with the face in a large heart shape. The nose in particular is enormously elongated. The mouth lies almost invisibly at the bottom against the chin. The eyes are slits so that the wearer can look through them.

From the side you can see that the mask is not a flat disk. The face is in a heart-shaped cavity with a protruding nose. At the top the mask is much thicker. On the side the ears are indicated in a simplified way. The mask is very skillfully carved from wood with a layer of clay on top. Original masks like this are rare and are often copied.

2. PRESENT: ROMUALD HAZOUMÉ

Contemporary African artist Romuald Hazoumè from Benin transforms discarded jerry cans into faces that are strongly reminiscent of traditional African masks. It is funny how the opening suddenly becomes a mouth and the handle an elongated nose. Sometimes he adds other found objects for hair or eyes. His humorous work also deals with the energy-guzzling production of oil (oil and gasoline are often stored in jerry cans), so these masks are not entirely funny. Artists, like writers or comedians, can comment on human-induced climate change or other problems in the world in their work.

Extra: if you like it you can also make faces from found objects.