Sowo Mask Sande Society Mende People Sierra Leone 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. It is believed that the sowei mask represents ideals of feminine beauty, with the full forehead representing wisdom and intellect, and the ringed neck embodying physical beauty in mende society.
Sierra Leone Mende Peoples Carved Wood Sande Society Helmet Mask 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. A carved wooden helmet mask used by the exclusively female sande (mende) or bondo bundu (temne) societies. the mask is traditionally worn by a high ranking member of the society, the dancing sowei , known as the ndoli jowei among the mende or a nowo among the temne. The sculpture of the helmet mask, a mask called sowei, obeys strict rules defined by the chiefs of sande, sowesia among the mende, who impose on sculptors the representation of criteria of beauty and thus determine the messages which will be revealed to the public during the ritual dance ceremonies or not. 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.
Mende Sowei Mask Second Face The sculpture of the helmet mask, a mask called sowei, obeys strict rules defined by the chiefs of sande, sowesia among the mende, who impose on sculptors the representation of criteria of beauty and thus determine the messages which will be revealed to the public during the ritual dance ceremonies or not. 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. Sowei masks of sierra leone and liberia (often referred to as bundu masks) are produced for the sande society, a women’s initiatory organization. The ceremonies of the sande society are the only occasions in africa in which women customarily wear masks. wooden masks worn during these public ceremonies, such as funerals or the installations of chiefs, are called sowo (sing. sowei) and represent the society's guardian spirit. 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 spirit of sowei represents the ideals and authority of society and is understood as the sande society’s teacher, healer, and judge. the sowei mask is one of the most important and recognisable symbols in the ceremonies of the mende people.
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