Mexican folk masks

Among the most mexican folk masks, dark, and uncannily beautiful styles of Mexican Art are the dance masks. Masks of this style developed when evangelizers in Mexico co-opted the ancient ritualistic use of masks to spread Christianity with allegorical plays and songs. Dances evolved from the dramas, most famously the Christians fighting the Moors, and became popular across Mexico.

Mask making is a part of Mexican ritual life that pre-dates the arrival of the Spanish. Masks in Mexico are used in a wide variety of dances, ceremonies, festivals and theatre, but the most common uses are with traditional dances. In these dances, non-professional performers wear masks to transform themselves into other beings or characters. Most masks are scaled to fit the human face, with dancers looking out of slits just above the painted eyes. The masks are traditionally used in various dances and representations during Christmastime and may use serpents and lizards as allusions to elements of pre-Hispanic Gods. Devil masks are mainly found in the Mexican states of Guerrero, Michoacan and Colima.

Mexican folk masks

For the pre-Hispanic Cultures, the masks served to conceal the soul, appearance, and personality, of the mask wearer and transformed the wearer into a mystical state in a way to communicate with the supernatural to influence the powerful forces in nature. However, masks shouldn't be view in isolation. For their role to be understood, they need to be studied in context. The dances which use masks must be studied and analyzed to understand the significance of the mask. Historic dances served as a function to tell future generations of important events that impacted the villages and keep the memory of those events alive. The Danza de los Tecuanes portrays the legend where a wild, man-eating beast stalks and kills a series of domestic animals with a whip. Villagers at the time had to protect themselves from the animals that would pass by their town and try to threaten to eat their food supply. There was no stopping for these wild beast, for they were too strong, cunning, and powerful. No matter how many times a villager tried to kill it, the animal survived. The villagers became alarmed and went to the Lord of the Mountain. He agreed to take on the task for a lot of money. After several failed attempts, he knew the deed would take more than one person. He got the other villagers to agree to help. They disguised themselves as stones, trees, and animals. Each night they would put the real animals in the center of the circle while the disguised villagers formed a circle around them.

It is often used for artistic objects, never for utilitarian items.

When one puts on a mask, he takes on the persona of the mask. Ceremonial masks have been used in dances in Mexico and Guatemala for thousands of years. Before the Spanish Conquest, masks depicted the animal spirits and gods of the indigenous peoples. The Spanish priests taught Roman Catholicism to the natives using medieval Mystery and Miracle Plays and introduced new masks for these performances. Such figures included the Spaniard and the Moor, and the Devil to represent Judas. Native dances evolved to incorporate both types of figures, and animal masks as well as those of European origin are still used in local festivals.

Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads. Bill LeVasseur has collected hundreds of Mexican masks from remote villages that now hang on the walls of his museum in San Miguel de Allende. He's singlehandedly preserving a piece of Mexican culture that few realize is still thriving today. September 6, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Bill LeVasseur never set out to become an ethnographer.

Mexican folk masks

The collection contains three boxes of manuscript and galley proofs, 88 photographic prints, and slides. Donald Cordry's publication, Mexican Masks, published by the University of Texas Press in , was based upon the collection. Cordry studied at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and later earned a reputation as an expert on puppets, which he both created and collected. He began collecting artifacts and information documenting Mexican Indian arts and crafts in , on a trip to Mexico. He formed professional associations with the Heye Foundation now the Museum of the American Indian , which sponsored further trips, and with the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles, California.

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Native dances evolved to incorporate both types of figures, and animal masks as well as those of European origin are still used in local festivals. Dances which parody Europeans, especially rich hacienda owners, are most commonly performed for Carnival. The Spanish priests taught Roman Catholicism to the natives using medieval Mystery and Miracle Plays and introduced new masks for these performances. The use of masks and costumes was an important part of Mesoamerican cultures for long before the arrival of the Spanish. In the town of Teloloapan , Guerrero, the local government holds a contest for the best decoration of devil masks. It is often used for artistic objects, never for utilitarian items. One important character of this type is La Malinche, in dances about the Conquest. Vintage White Moor Mask. Depictions of demons and devils have been adopted in various dances and rituals from morality plays to satires. What remained were a number of indigenous practices overlaid with Catholic and other European traditions. Skull masks can be basic white or with fanciful decorations; while some are serious, others may be depicted laughing.

Mexican mask-folk art refers to the making and use of masks for various traditional dances and ceremony in Mexico.

Skull masks represent death still, and can be basic white or have fanciful decorations. Masks for these characters are unflattering. In some areas of Guerrero, red faces depict the Moors. European characters appear in pastorelas or Christmas plays, common in central Mexico. Vintage Mask. Tlaloc was commonly depicted as having serpents around his eyes and the fangs of a viper. Tezcatlipoca was a night god whose colors were black and red. Close menu. In other projects. Masks vary by the kinds of materials used to make them. Quick view. Designs are unique to each wrestler and they fight to defend this identity.