African Arts Gallery

This distinctive face of the African masks Baoulé, known as mask-portraits, presents the ngole ethnic Baule scarifications. It is here embellished with ram's horns and a crest in the form of a bird figure with outstretched wings.
These idealized portrait masks of the Baoulé, ndoma (or "double", "copy") which celebrate a character, have the particularity of appearing at the end of entertainment dance ceremonies. These are named, depending on the region, bedwo , ngblo , mblo , adjussu , etc.... The clothes of the dancer could also be those of the person evoked, the latter also dancing at his side. Each of these masks are distinguished by the hairstyles, the location and the choice of scarifications, etc... Also called Gbagba, they personify graceful young girls or men whose courage or qualities of integrity are renowned. The new generations are gradually replacing these Mblo dances called Gbagba in some villages, retaining most of the old conventions, with the Kpan Kpan dance. , whose masks raise societal issues or refer to political projects.