The History of Masks

Masks have been used

all over the world for at
least 9000 years,
although their uses and
the methods used to
make them have varied
considerably from
country to country.

“Masks” by Tyler is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Masks around the World
Venice
In Venice, masks are worn
during the Carnival. This
tradition has been around since
the 13th century. The masks are
made from a variety of materials
from papier mâché to porcelain.
Some masks just cover the eyes,
while others are full-face masks
with long noses or colourful
feathers. Venetian masks were
originally crafted by mascherari.

“Faceless Masks” by Vitorio Benedetti is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Masks around the World

Mexico
Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, masks
represent calaveras, or skulls. Dia de los Muertos
takes place on the 1st and 2nd of November throughout
Mexico and Latin America. The celebration is a way
for people to honour their ancestors who have died.
The people who celebrate often wear costumes to go
with their masks. Today, facepaint is sometimes worn
instead of masks.

“Dia de los Muertos” by Jennifer Martin Ruggiero is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Masks around the World
China
The biggest holiday
celebration in China takes
place over Chinese New
Year. During this week-
long celebration, people
wear masks based on the
animals of Chinese
mythology, or to represent
an emotion felt by
everyone during the
celebration. These masks
are made from a variety of
materials including paper,
metal and leather. The
masks are colourfully
painted.

“Chinese Mask” by tai nkm is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Masks around the World
Brazil
During the Carnival in
Brazil, which takes place
in the week before Lent,
people wear a selection of
brightly coloured and
feathered masks or
headdresses.
This tradition originated in
the 19th century.

“Grupo de Clovis animando a Cidade Alta” by Prefeitura de Olinda is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Masks around the World
Bahamas
Although the origin of the masks worn in the Bahamas is not agreed
upon by historians, the Junkanoo mask is always a part of their
Boxing Day and New Year’s Day celebrations. The design of these
masks varies greatly in design, size and colour, but they are very
colourful and form part of a full-body costume. The masks are worn
by the street performers who dance through the city streets.

“2007 Junkanoo Dancer, Nassau, Bahamas” by Mike Burton is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Masks around the World
Austria
In parts of Austria, there is a
tradition of wearing masks based
on a local folktale. The folktale
tells of a horned demon,
Krampus, who punishes naughty
children at Christmastime. The
festival is called Krampusnacht
and takes place early in
December each year. As part of
Krampusnacht, people wear
scary horned masks made to
look like Krampus, made from
wood and goat or sheep skin.
The hope is that these ‘demons’
will scare the children into
behaving well.
“Ghost Krampus” by Casey Hugelfink is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Masks around the World
Venezuela
In Venezuela, in the city of
San Francisco de Yare near
Caracas, there is a festival
called Diablos Danzantes
which is held each year to
celebrate the triumph of
good over evil. As part of
this festival, elaborate
masks of winged dragons
are worn by the confradia, a
performing group. These
masks take a long time to
make – sometimes as long
as a year! The masks have
been worn for this festival
since the 1700s.

“Diablos danzantes de Tinaquillo” by Luigino Bracci is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Masks in Africa
In Africa, masks have
traditionally been used in
rituals, marriages and funerals
and as part of initiation
ceremonies. The masks are all
hand-made using materials
found in nature, like wood
and clay. Masks are decorated
and painted with natural
pigments and paints.
Sometimes beads, dry grass,
flattened metal strips and
shells are used to decorate the
masks. Many African masks
are good examples of the use
of symmetry and shape in art.

“African Masks” by Steve Evans is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Masks in Africa

The higher the status of the person wearing the mask, the
more valuable the materials used to make the mask would
be. Kings or chiefs would have valuable materials such as
ivory and gold on their masks.

African masks usually represent a variety of animal and

human forms.

“African Mask” by Lemia Abdu is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Interesting Fact

In the 1900s, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque,

who were famous Cubist artists, were inspired by
a collection of African masks that had been
brought to Europe as part of an exhibition. The
influence of the use of angles, lines, patterns and
geometric shapes on the masks is clearly visible
in the work that they produced.

“Mask” by Mikhail Esteves is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Masks Today
Masks are still popular today.
Although they are still worn in
the festivals we looked at earlier,
they have increased in popularity
as the superheroes of comic
books have been seen regularly
across the silver screen.

For a superhero, a mask is an

invaluable tool in keeping their
identity a secret. The Lucha
Libre, masked wrestlers in
Mexico, also use their masks to
keep their identities secret.

The most important role of the

mask is to help the audience “IMG_0264-Edit” by Ville de Victoriaville is licensed under CC BY 2.0

instantly recognize the wearer as

the superhero.