Masks Around the World

Changing Face: Masks from British Museum Various cultures - 12 high quality images with details about each mask. Go to Compass and enter Mask as a search and find many more images.

Masks Multi Media Project - Masks from 22 countries - seven sets of images to explore. Does not give cultural information: Might be fun to use some of these in a guessing game - match with the right culture. From Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts

Masks from Many Cultures - Crystal Productions video - also available from Art Video World. Presents over 100 masks from different regions of the world and from diverse cultures. Includes scenes of dances and festivals where masks are worn in traditional ceremonies. Teacher recommended.

Novica for contemporary masks around the world - Balinese, Mexican, African, Peruvian, Indian, Brazilian.

You can find many high quality images (for many cultures) by going to museum sites and entering mask in their search feature.

Masks Essays and Articles

Masks Essay by George Ulrich. Good background information. Milwaukee Public Museum.

Functions and Forms of Masks (article originally from Encyclopedia Britannica) Good background information on masks

Mask Article from Encarta - Contains several images. Gives you
the option of printable page.

Lesson Plans for Critical Inquiry:

Behind the Masks: Exploring Self in Art and Poetry - excellent exploration
into poetry, culture, and art, with middle and high school students writing their own identity poems and designing personal masks. Lesson by Judi Moreillon.

What Masks Reveal - from EDSITEment. Has links to Alaskan masks, Puerto Rican Carnival and African. Lesson designed from grades 6 through 8.

The Meaning Behind the Mask - from EDSITEment. Designed for grades K through 2. Main focus is on African masks.

Lesson Plans on Incredible Art Department - with Student Art Gallery

Americas - Native American

Contemporary Iroquois False Face - due to their spiritual nature and importance to the Iroquois, most authentic False Face Masks are no longer on display in museums. some information about False Face masks More contemporary images of False Face Masks Out of respect for the culture, I do not recommend you have your students try to make masks "in the style of" Iroquois False Face.

Iroquois Corn Hush Masks - Logan Museum

Haida Art - Canadian Museum of Civilizations - See Masks
Search for the site for Masks (Canadian Museum of Civilizations). Many exhibits come up.

Transformation Mask - Canadian Museum of Civilizations

What is Haida Art?- Virtual Museum (Site was down last I checked)

Haida Secret Society Masks

Tsimshian Mask from Canadian Museum of Civilizations

Northwest Coast Native American Masks - essay (Informative but poor quality images)

Meaning of some of the symbols - Northwest Coast

Transformations: Masking Traditions of the Americas lecture summary. click on any masks image to view masks.

Microsoft Art Collection- Northwest Coast masks - Click on thumbnails to see larger images and read information about each piece:

Down from the Shimmering Sky: Masks of the Northwest Coast a few examples from exhibit at Portland Museum of Art.

U'mista Potlatch Collection - Northwest Coast masks and other artifacts. Very little information is given about the masks.

Richard Hunt - contemporary Northwest Coast - Kwakiutl
Lesson Plan for Richard Hunt (ArtsConnectEd

Northwest Coast Masks Coastal Arts - Commercial site - Online gallery. Has high quality images - work by contemporary Northwest Coast artists - Gives a brief biography of the artist.

Alaska - Arctic

Dorset Masks - from an ancient Arctic culture

Agayuliyararput: Our Way of Making Prayers - Excellent site from University of Michigan. Online version of the Yup'ik Eskimo Mask Exhibit: Agayuliyararput (Our Way of Making Prayer). This exhibit brings together Yup'ik masks preserved in different museums from around the world, with the stories these masks tell, collected from Yup'ik elders.
Agayuliyararput - Interactive - multimedia Online exhibit from National Museum of Natural History

Living Tradition of Yup'ik Masks - several images and background
information

People of the Arctic: Arctic Studies Center (good for costume) Museum of Natural History. Alaskan Masks

Tunghak Tribe mask - southwest Alaska:

Greenlandic Masks - Arctic

Caribbean - Puerto Rico - Dominican Republic

Vejigante Masks by Fernando Luis Perez Lopez Commercial site.
More examples of Vejigante masks The name Vejigantes (which is pronounced "vay-hee-GON-tays") comes from the Spanish vejiga (bladder). The traditional carnival vejigante carries with him, or her, two giant rattles made from blown up, dried pig's or sheep's bladder, which are used to frighten people. It's all part of the celebration! Wonderful images of student masks Lesson plan (pdf file)

Activities for Puerto Rican Carnival from Museum of American History. Includes easy lesson idea for Vejigante masks.

Collector's Vision of Puerto Rico - See Carnival. From Museum of American History.

Carnival Masks by Ivan Erickson - from Dominican Republic (now living in USA)

Mexican Masks

The Mask Monger - Mexican Masks (site was down last I checked)

Mexican Masks - Guatemalan Masks - Dance Masks. From Colonial Art (commercial site - but good source for images) You might want to secure a dowel rod to your student masks and mount on a wood base like many of these.

Dance Masks from Mexico - (Indigo Art- commercial site) 3 pages of images

Mexican Masks - 3 pages of images

Mexican Bat Mask Arizona State Museum

South America:

Mask from Argentina: Museum of Ethnology Vienna (no information given)

Peruvian metal - Pre-Columbian from Peru Image Exchange

Mask of Fange Deity - Moche from Spirit of Ancient Peru

Masks of Bolivia - Bolivia Image Exchange - Colonial and Republican

Dance Masks - Bolivia (Indigo Arts) - from recycled tin

Diablada Mask - Bolivia - from Milwaukee Public Museum.

Miniature masks from Bolivia (commercial site - has some background information)

Masks of Bolivia (in Spanish) - click links under Máscaras

Gold Quimbaya Mask - Columbia AD 600- 1100

Lion Mask - Brazil - interesting fiber mask

Caraja Mask -South America - Glenbow Museum

Masks of Africa

Art of the African Mask - Bayly Art Museum, University of Virginia. African masks in this exhibition are dramatic portraits of spirit beings, departed ancestors, and invisible powers of social control. See more images from the Bayly Collection - organized by ethnic group.

Masks and Headdresses at the Bayly Museum (nice site for students)

ArtsNet Minnesota Lesson - Sierra Leone (from lesson on Identity)

Art and Life of Africa Search Stanley collection enter mask in "type" field (this feature was down last I checked)

In the Presents of Spirits - from the National Museum of African Art-
excellent online exhibit.

Playful Performers - Why Wear a Mask? - National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C. - online exhibit to bring to young people an enhanced understanding of the many roles that masks play in various African societies and cultures. Must see!

Explore African Art Collection National Museum of African Art. This is great for your own personal research. Explore it to see how you can use it with students. Try searching Diversity - Mask.

Ritual Messengers - Canadian Museum of Civilizations

African Masks - Information, Mask design project, and examples (graphic
illustration rather than photographs). Nice site for students.

African Mask Internet Lesson - Comparing two African masks. From Princeton High School. Also see Benin Plaques

Musée of Paris - Magical Faces of Africa (masks) Site is in English and French. Musée Dapper - Paris Museum (has pop up ads)

African Art Museum Commercial site - but has lots of images and gives
information about the people.

Hamill Gallery - has lots of images of masks (click on masks in left frame)

Check African Art Links for more university and museum sites.
There are also many commercial sites and museum sites with images of African masks.

Asia - India - Nepal - Tibet - Sri Lanka

Mask from Tibet (or Bhutan) and Nepal

Dark Old Man - Mongolian Exhibit

Various masks from Asia (commercial site - but good images - no background information)

Asian Masks - small images Masks from Nepal Himalayan Masks (Nepal)

Asian Mask Gallery - Masks.org

Himalayan Masks (Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, India) - commercial site -see Newari
copper masks for foil tooling ideas.

Himalayan masks (commercial site) Bhutanese masks (nice images)

Masks of the Himalayas - commercial site - 5 pages of images -has link to
essay with more information.

Masks from Nepal (Indigo Arts) Masks from Tibet

Masks of India - Kamat's Potpourri

Art Sri Lanka Excellent site on art history, Buddhist art
etc. Click on Masks - lots of images - types and meanings.

Bali - Indonesia - Java

Masks from Bali - Indonesia - Indigo Arts Gallery

Masks from Java (Indigo Arts Gallery)

Bali - Indonesia - Java - Some information - poor quality images

Bali Dances (many with masks) - information only - no images

Javanese Mask Collection - from the Field Museum - 2 pages of images
Topeng Performance - Java Village

Article on maskmaking in Cambodia

China

Masks of China: Historical and Contemporary Traditions in Chinese Mask
Masking - Medical Museum of Univestiy of Iowa. Lots of images - but little information about the masks.

Chinese Nuo Masks - commercial site - but has nice images - includes some background information. Masks by Hu Fayun. See more art from Galleria Pangea.

Chinese Opera Masks - illustrations - explanations of colors. These are painted directly on the face.

Chinese Traditional Opera

Japan

Background information on Noh - Kyogen theater in Japan (images are small)

Japanese Noh Theater- some images

Japanese Noh Masks (introduction) - commercial site - but shows process of making a Noh Mask and quality images of the character masks. Traditional Japanese Noh Masks (home page)

Japanese Noh Masks - Commercial site - but has nice step by step process on making a mask. High quality images.

The Noh Mask Effect: A Facial Expression Illusion (interesting article)

Japanese Theatre Timeline

Korea

Faces Expressed in Korean Masks - some background information

Hanoe-Dong Mask Museum - background information and lots of small images for Hanoe and Korean masks

Masks and Dance Masks (information - small images)

Hanoe Dance Drama (see also links at top to Act and Tal)

Korean Dance Performance - commercial site but has background information

Korean Mask Gallery - Marks.org

Thailand

Khon Mask Making in Thailand article and a couple of pictures.

Khon Masks of Thailand - Characters in the Ramakian - good source for Pictures

Ramakian of Thailand - Northern Illinois University

Greek

Greek Theater Masks - poor images

Greek Masks - mosaic images Timeline with small images Links

Information on Greek Theater - summary - no images

Greek mask reproductions - commercial site - more commercial sites are online

Tragic image - Comic image - Actors with masks
More theater images from Paula Chabot.

Student designed Greek masks (for an Art History course)

Fun memory game activity for Greek masks

Mask of Agamemnon - Mycenaean gold funerary mask - High quality image from Artchive More Mycenaean art

Italy - Venetian

Carnival of Venice - some history

Carnival Mask Lesson Plan - many more resources listed

Florentine Masks Imported - handmade Italian paper mache masks

Roman Parade Helmet Mask

Papua New Guinea - Oceania/Pacific Island Masks

Malagan Masks - New Ireland

Where Masks Still Dance - photo essay by Chris Rainier - Papua New Guinea

New Guinea Masks

Pacific Masks Links (many links broken)

Many high quality images can be found in museum collections.

Russia

Festival Masks - one image. Google image search brings up a commercial site for these.

Spain

Leather Carnival Masks by Felix Gutierrez (commercial site)

Theater Masks

Masks by Los Angeles Mask Maker Artist Wendy Gough. Informative resources: Mask making process, Greek Theater Timeline and Japanese Theater Timeline.

Contemporary Masks

Peggy Bjerkan - Maskwoman Ceramic Masks. Be sure to visit all of the Portfolios and Past Lives. Read the Materials and Techniques to learn her secrets to the Prismacolor finish. From California.

Eric Straw (Strawczynski) - Fun corrugated cardboard masks. See how many cultures influenced these works as well as various modern artists. These are truly unique creations. Share this work with your students. Site is in French and English.

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