Makonde Mask Oil on Canvas Large Painting

Dimensions: 54 x 50 inches

The Makonde people inhabit the southeast of Tanzania and the northeast of Mozambique. These masks play an important part in Makonde culture and are worn during initiation ceremonies to celebrate the adolescents into adulthood. The masks often represent ancestral spirits, or occasionally animals. Their presence is believed to be proof of the close bonds that exists between the living and the dead.