Global Art & Artifacts

Bulu Style Ape Mask.  Fang Group.  Ngi ritual.  Cameroon Grasslands.  Africa.

Click the photo above for a larger version and more pictures

 

 

Bordering on Cameroon and Gabon, the Bulu are part of the larger Fang group and share cultural similarities.

 

UNIQUE?  Yes, because the Bulu practice the ngi ritual… where members wear this “gorilla” mask to ward off sorcery and poisonings.  This anti-witchcraft society whose leadership is given to the strongest and most virile man  . . .  given the powers of life and death . . .  whose ceremony “could” be open to violence.  The leader – nom ngi – along with his assistants would roam the village carrying machetes looking for members who might be subject to evil cult influences.  Many hide.

 

This mask is typical with a geometric face and colored in black and white.

 

I love these simple masks that are full of history and tradition.  Sorry, the stand is not included.

 

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