masks for ceramic assignment

2. Melanesian Mask Masking has been around for at least 20,000 years. Masks were and are made and used in almost all civilizations for varying purposes.

3. Devils Mask Guerreo Mexico Death and rebirth are common themes, and are frequently given visual form in the mask.

4. In various cultures masks represents the forces of nature and life. Often these forces are recorded in myths and are given human or animal form, as on the Northwest Coast of North America, and in some parts of Africa. Rituals performed for the continuance of life, so called "fertility rites," also often involved masked performance, and usually correspond to seasonal changes or planting and harvesting ceremonies. The Pueblo peoples of the Southwestern United States perform dances to promote fertility and rainfall, as do Africans living in the drier regions of the Western Sudan.

5. This is Puk'wus, he lives near the sea and captures the souls of those who have drowned. Kwakiutl, British Columbia

6. African Masks

8. Indonesian Masks

10. North American Mask The Northwest Coast tribes, like many other peoples, believe that supernatural power resides in the mask itself. This power is releases when a human puts on the mask and it is the spirit of the mask which performs, and not the "man-that-was."

11. North American Mask

12. New Guinea Mask

13. Indian Mask

14. Chinese Masks

15. One of the most important things that a mask can do is, transform the identity of the wearer.

20. Ideas……

21. http://www.sculpturesplace.com/maskTheClown.html