Zakpai ga mask

The masks used by the Dan of Mali are subdivided in a “pretty” female masks (gle mu), characterized by oval faces and thin slit eyes, and “ugly” male masks (gle gon), with pentagonal faces and tubular eyes. The two types of masks are different manifestations of the most powerful and thus “frightening” of spirit forces, known as gle. The social purpose of the mask featured here is to watch over hearths and prevent fires from spreading throughout the village, by punishing women who waste time in the kitchen, beating them and spilling their pots over the fire pit.