Sande Society Mask Sowei Mende People Sierra Leone Western Africa Within mende and sherbro culture, helmet masks are carved with symbolic features intended to endow the wearer with spiritual power. senior members of two distinct initiation societies, sande and humui, may have worn this work in performances. In sierra leone and western liberia, each town has a sande society that includes all of the women in the community. it represents them and binds them together as a powerful social and political force. the sande society is one of the most influential patrons of the visual arts in west africa.
Mask 1 Wood Sowei 42 Cm Mende Sierra Leone Catawiki This helmet like mask, along with a full body costume made from the raffia palm, would be worn during both secret initiation rituals and the final presentation ceremony by the sowei, or sande leader, usually a talented performer and high ranking official in the society. These masks are part of the female exclusive initiation ceremonies for the sande society of the mende people. the sande society are female healers and herbalists, the word sowei specifically refers to medicine. Metal banded horns adorn this mask shown in 1976 at the sande masquerade in a village in the bumpe chiefdom, sierra leone. this mask is the same on that was shown in the photo in the beginning of this page. The mende people of sierra leone is unusual in having a female secret society with a masking tradition exclusively its own. the sande society uses sowei (also called sowo) crest masks during girls’ initiation rituals involving adulthood and genital mutilation.
The Dancing Sowei Performing Beauty In Sierra Leone Cantor Arts Metal banded horns adorn this mask shown in 1976 at the sande masquerade in a village in the bumpe chiefdom, sierra leone. this mask is the same on that was shown in the photo in the beginning of this page. The mende people of sierra leone is unusual in having a female secret society with a masking tradition exclusively its own. the sande society uses sowei (also called sowo) crest masks during girls’ initiation rituals involving adulthood and genital mutilation. Though a woman of lesser rank may own a sowei mask, it must be kept for her by the society head in a special enclosure called the kunde together with the sande 'medicine' and other masks. Like a majority of african nations, sierra leone's political parties are often tied to specific ethnic groups and have been dominated by the mende, on the one hand, and the temne and their long time political allies, the limba, on the other. The only masks worn by women in africa by an initiation society called the ‘sande’. the masks appear during the initiation cycle: periods of education & ceremony for young girls celebrating their transformation into adulthood before marriage. While dancing in the event, officials of the sande wear sowei masks, which represent the spirit of the society. the sowei mask is a “helmet mask” that is worn over the head and the rest of the dancer’s body is hidden by blackened raffia fibers and cloth.
Mende Sowei Helmet Mask Sold Exquisite African Art Though a woman of lesser rank may own a sowei mask, it must be kept for her by the society head in a special enclosure called the kunde together with the sande 'medicine' and other masks. Like a majority of african nations, sierra leone's political parties are often tied to specific ethnic groups and have been dominated by the mende, on the one hand, and the temne and their long time political allies, the limba, on the other. The only masks worn by women in africa by an initiation society called the ‘sande’. the masks appear during the initiation cycle: periods of education & ceremony for young girls celebrating their transformation into adulthood before marriage. While dancing in the event, officials of the sande wear sowei masks, which represent the spirit of the society. the sowei mask is a “helmet mask” that is worn over the head and the rest of the dancer’s body is hidden by blackened raffia fibers and cloth.
Comments are closed.