African masks/ ritual and tribal costume

I remember looking at carnival costume last year and how it has roots in tribal and ritual costume, and how these costumes are often elaborate in their appearance as well as being significant in their abilities to transform a person into something else. In Africa, the local will use traditional and folk costumes during ceremonies and special occasions such as weddings, national festivities and coming of age ceremonies, as well as in their everyday life. 

Traditionally, African masks serve not only as a ritual accessory but as a way to transition into a new entity, which allows the wearer to connect to the spirits whom he is appealing to. They are an important part of performance art, and once used in spiritual manner and have fulfilled their purpose they have to be thrown away or burned. African masks can be worn in 3 ways - vertically covering the head, as a helmet which encompasses the whole of the head, or as a crest; the mask resting upon the head which is often covered in some other form of material to continue the disguise. The masks themselves are often made out natural materials such as cloth, raffia, shells or other found objects. The masks acts as a representative of a spirit, which is then belived to inhabit the dancer or performer. The music that accompanies these rituals - drumming and chanting prayer - is used to invoke a form of trance that will allow the performer to become one with the spirit and allow the ritual to be performed. 

As I see my work in a festival context, which for me is primarily about the dance, I can draw some similarities between my work and that of ritual performance. I am keen to cover the face in my pieces - whether that be through masks or in another way - as I am sure that this will allow the performer to become another character fully. Dancing at a festival is to some people a ritual performance, and dancing at raves has been discussed as a religious and ritual experience to many involved in the scene. I am looking at African mask and ritual as I think about different ways that I can obscure the face that is both practical and otherworldly.  like the way that traditional ritual costume is all encompassing so that you can see practically no part of the body. I am also aware that artist Nick Cave uses masks and costumes like this as a constant source of inspiration, and his work has always been there a big influence on my costume based work. 

^^^^ The baining fire dance  

In Papua New Guinea, they have a ritual called the Baining Fire Dance. The Baining day dance is for the women and is used to bring female fertility, whilst the Baining fire and night dance is used to bring good hunting and celebrate the spirits of the forest, and it is a strict men and boy only dance.In the the Baining fire dance, the dancers wear masks that are as big as the dancers bodies and called 'Kavat', as well as skirts of leaves that represent the forest spirits that are believed to be harmful to the tribes. The ;leader of the dance also wears a conical hat called a 'lingen'. The men dance solo around the fire, before dancing round as a group wildly and energetically, getting closer and closer to the fire as the music journeys into a crescendo, before running barefoot across the flames. What I appreciate aesthetically about this ritual is the largeness of the masks and how the features are simplified and exaggerated.