Ivorian Nafana People Mask: "Bedu"

This is an Ivorian Nafana People mask called "bedu." This bedu plank mask is used to dance in ceremonies designed to rid the village of harmful spirits. All Bedu masks have a shallow box-like extension on the back that functions to support the mask on the dancer's head.  Usually about 60 inches tall, a Bedu mask can go to eight feet and weigh as much as 100 pounds.

The dancer ties the mask to his head and covers the rest of his body with raffia. These masks are danced by athletic young men, appearing in male and female pairs at funeral rites and during month-long harvest festivals. The masks are intended to ward off disaster, illness, and infertility and to increase the community's sense of well-being. Bedu masks generally appear at the New Year festivities to celebrate the renewal of the natural and the social order.

The Nafana are a Gur-speaking people who are considered part the Gurunsi group. Though they are a small culture, less than 50,000, they are widely scattered over parts of Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana, with the bulk of their population found in Burkina Faso. They are mainly hunters and fishermen. The Bedu Association only dates back to the 1930s and spread throughout several tribes.
Source:
http://www.hamillgallery.com/NAFANA/NafanaBeduMasks/Nafana24.html http://www.forafricanart.com/Nafana_bedu_African_art_mask_1614.html