Thursday, January 16, 2020

Masks and Music from the Congo


Last Saturday I went to the Musical Instrument Museum to see a special exhibit they have showing a variety of masks and musical instruments of the various regions of the Congo.

It was a beautiful exhibit with lots of videos and audio to go with the different tribal areas.























As you can see, along with the masks and instruments, there were also full costumes worn for the masquerades.

Masquerades take place in different parts of the Congo for a variety of reasons.  Anything from simple entertainment, demonstrations of power to connections with the spirit world.

It was a fascinating exhibit.  I'll show you a few more photos tomorrow.
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12 comments:

  1. biebkriebelsJanuary 16, 2020 at 3:43 AM

    I think they always look a bit frightening those masks...

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  2. PerthDailyPhotoJanuary 16, 2020 at 5:45 AM

    Some of the masks and costumes are quite frightening. I grew up in Zambia, the Congo was our neighbour 😊

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  3. CatarinaJanuary 16, 2020 at 7:07 AM

    I have only two masks similar to those. Smaller ones.

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  4. RedPatJanuary 16, 2020 at 7:32 AM

    They certainly don't look friendly. I particularly like that 2nd one, Sharon.

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  5. Steve ReedJanuary 16, 2020 at 8:53 AM

    Love it! African masks and carvings are so interesting. I'm glad they had video & audio to go with them.

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  6. BillJanuary 16, 2020 at 12:46 PM

    Pretty impressive masks. I really like the second one too. The ones that have on a costume are scary looking.

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  7. William KendallJanuary 16, 2020 at 1:55 PM

    These are fascinating.

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  8. R's RueJanuary 16, 2020 at 2:25 PM

    Beautiful.

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  9. KayJanuary 16, 2020 at 7:10 PM

    Masks are really interesting. I imagine if you add in traditional music they're pretty amazing.

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  10. diane bJanuary 17, 2020 at 3:21 AM

    Banjo , my grandson,would like to see these.

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  11. GemelJanuary 18, 2020 at 2:23 PM

    Love these, really arty and creative.

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  12. JackJanuary 19, 2020 at 1:50 PM

    African masks can be captivating, can't they?

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