Nwenka Mask with Elaborate, Three-Piece Superstructure

Origin: Bobo Tribe, Burkina Faso
Composition: wood, pigment dyes, leather strips

According to Christopher Roy, the Nwenka mask is associated with both human and animal traits. It represents the "spirit of the animal who saved the ancestral founder of the clan... Allegoric and non-representative, the mask embodies Dwo, the son of the creator Wuro." Together with the mask Molo, this is the oldest, most important, and most sacred of the Kwele and Dwo cult masks.

The 100,000 Bobo people live in eastern Burkina Faso. They are primarily farmers whose lives are regulated by a council of elders. Their lives are dominated by the rhythm of the seasons - during the dry season in particular, when the fields are fallow, is when the masquerades are held. Most of their masks symbolize animals and spirits, and are worn during initiation ceremonies and festivals celebrating crops and agricultural prosperity (Ref: Bacquart, Tribal Arts of Africa).

This mask was purchased directly from the tribe on a field collecting trip to Burkina Faso in 2007. It wears a large, geometric superstructure, that is much more elaborate than what we typically find, and its presence is even more striking in person.