African Arts Gallery

Mask stretched in red felt, edged with a fur border like the thick mustache. Resinous aggregates, minor chips.
The masks equipped with round orbits ( gunye ge), facilitating vision, are part of the set of northern Dan masks and are used for racing events during of the dry season. The zapkei ge, also equipped with circular orbits, are responsible for preventing fires by watching over domestic fires. Among the Dan, or Yacouba, living in the west of the Ivory Coast and in Liberia, the "dü" force which would animate the world would manifest itself in the sculpted masks. According to the Dan, the spirits indicate how to name the mask they wish to see made. These masks of different types are endowed with social, spiritual and political functions, often changing over time.