Masked festivals of Canton Bo

Exhibition: Masked festivals of Canton Bo
Dates: Until 31 March 2011, Open daily 9 am to 5 pm

Place: The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

Admission: $9,-

Webpage: www.peabody.harvard.edu

About the exhibition:

The African masks that inspired painters like Picasso in the early twentieth century were only a small part of a larger cultural context and spectacle. The festivals of Canton Bo, located in the dense forest region of Southwest Ivory Coast, centered on the spirit forms of ancient ancestors who appeared in post-harvest festivals wearing carved masks and full-body coverings of straw, animal hide, textiles, and paint. Until the 2002 Ivory Coast civil strife, the Bo people invited the spirits each year to protect their village against unknown threats and to stimulate fertility for both women and crops. With such protection and fertility, the whole community would prosper. Through rare drawings and photographs, along with masks from the Peabody Museum collections, Masked Festivals explores the different kinds of masked spirits and their performances.

About the museum:

Founded in 1866, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology is one of the oldest museums in the world devoted to anthropology and houses one of the most comprehensive records of human cultural history in the Western Hemisphere.

© Text and image: www.peabody.harvard.edu