Malian Bamana People Mask - "N'tomo Society" "Marka" Initiation Mask

This wooden Marka mask has features typical to this style of mask. It is coated with brass that has designs hammered into it. The metal pieces at the sides of the face, and sometimes over the nose, are derived from the actual coiffures of Bamana women.

The Bamana people, before their conversion to Islam, believed that Marka masks are extremely powerful and have the ability to frighten away evil spirits, convey messages from the spirit world and cure illnesses. The Marka masks would be used to perform ceremonies to invoke the spirits to grant the community with abundant agricultural yields and a successful fishing season. The men of the Bamana, clad in costumes of colorful cloth, always appeared in pairs to represent man's wooing of woman.

The Bamana's N'Tomo Society used this type of Marka mask in two rituals: during the circumcision ceremony of adolescents and when initiated adult men advance from one grade to another. The mask represents a beautiful woman, and when danced, mimicked the gestures of a young woman.

More than 450,000 Bamana people live in Mali. Because most have converted to Islam, the mask is now only danced once a year on the Islamic feast day. The mask is one of the few items they keep as a reminder of their animistic past.

See also: https://africa.uima.uiowa.edu/media/photos/show/3860?back=media/index?Country=15&MediaType=Image&action_=Use+Filter
Source:
https://africa.si.edu/collections/objects/5402/face-mask;jsessionid=763AFEA1137FBF79390EE6E43210DAA5
https://www.imodara.com/discover/mali-bamana-ntomo-ancestor-mask/