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2023 Vanderbilt Libraries Buchanan Fellows projects

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Sala Mpasu Mask

Buchanan Library Fellow: Faeid Hassan, Class of 2025

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Description

The Sala Mpasu mask was an integral part of the warriors’ society, whose primary task was to protect this small enclave against invasions by outside kingdoms. Boys were initiated into the warriors’ society through a circumcision camp and then rose through its ranks by gaining access to a hierarchy of masks. Earning the right to wear a mask involved performing specific deeds and large payments of livestock, drink, and other material goods. Once a man ‘owned’ the mask, other ‘owners’ taught this new member particular esoteric knowledge associated with it.

Title: Sala Mpasu Mask

Artist: Artist Unknown

Date: 1970

Classification: Warrior Mask

Medium: Wood, crocheted raffia, and sheets of copper

Collection: Vanderbilt University Art Gallery

Accession Number: 1970.010

Attribution: Vanderbilt University Art Gallery, work in the Public Domain and images (c) 2023 Vanderbilt University

Images License: Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)

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