Artifact: Masks. What Objects Reveal About the People Who Made Use of Them

If you were born sometime in 1962 in Umuofosa village, in Mbaitolu Local Government Area of Imo State, you would know that, before anyone ate the new yam, a festival had to be held. Every June, the month-long celebration of Òwù brought the community together.

You would know the Òkìríshì.

To the uninitiated, they were sacred, fearsome masquerades that stirred the village with a mixture of fear and excitement. They chased children, youngsters and anyone who dared to come out and watch. If you were among the spectators, you would have been prepared to run.

You would also know that children were initiated into Òkìríshì and taught its distinct language, understood only by members. It was a language through which they connected with ancestral spirits.

On performance days, the initiated members appeared in wooden masks they had carved themselves. The craft required technical knowledge and spiritual authority, passed down through generations. The masks featured humanoid faces with bold, fearsome teeth, horns stretching outward like those of deer, and charms believed to offer protection. Palm fronds adorned their bodies, exaggerating their presence.

These were not merely costumes for entertainment. They were sacred symbols of a new season, welcomed with fear, gratitude and excitement as the community anticipated its new yam harvest. Òkìríshì from neighbouring kindreds would cross boundaries to challenge and duel with the resident masquerades.

To understand the masks, you had to understand the people, the beliefs and the occasion that brought them to life. This is what makes African masks significant beyond their appearance.

The artistic tradition of African masks stretches back thousands of years. Crafted from materials including wood, leaves, fibres and animal hides, they have served different purposes across communities and generations. Some were designed to cover the face, while others formed part of elaborate ensembles that concealed the wearer’s entire body.

Their forms, materials and uses varied, but many held meanings that extended beyond the physical object.

In some traditions, masks served as spiritual channels between the physical and spiritual worlds, expressing beliefs about ancestors, deities and the Creator. Wearing a mask could mean surrendering one’s ordinary identity and assuming the identity of the spirit represented. The performer was no longer understood simply as an individual in costume, but as a participant in something larger than themselves.

The objects themselves also carried meaning.

Across African cultures, animals have served as powerful symbols. Lions may represent courage, elephants wisdom, and buffaloes strength. Other animals, including antelopes and crocodiles, may carry associations with agriculture, fertility and the natural world. Human features, too, can communicate dignity, intelligence, humility, beauty and authority. These meanings differ across cultures, but they reveal a shared artistic possibility, the ability to communicate ideas through form.

The ivory mask associated with Queen Idia of the Benin Kingdom remains a typical example of feminine beauty and power.

African masks are far more than art objects or museum artefacts. They are expressions of the cultures, histories, beliefs and craftsmanship of the people who made use of them. To understand a mask is to begin understanding the world that gave it meaning.

And that world is what makes the object worth knowing.