BWA BUTTERFLY MASK 3, Burkina Faso

Photographs © Tim Hamill

BWA, BUTTERFLY MASK 3, 74" x 13", $1000, SOLD

These wide headdresses transformed the dancer into a supernatural being. They were used by the Do society at dances to promote fertility of the fields and at funerals of Do members. The geometric designs all have meanings. The checkerboard pattern symbolizes the separation of light from dark, good from evil, and female from male.

RETURN TO BWA HAWK/BUTTERFLY MASKS PAGE

GO TO BWA PLANK MASKS PAGE

GO TO BWA SUN MASKS PAGE

GO TO BWA ART PAGE

GO TO MONUMENTAL MASKS PAGE

GO TO MASKS AND HEADS PAGE

GO TO NEW ADDITIONS PAGE