2023 Vanderbilt Libraries Buchanan Fellows projects
[home] [Album du Siège] [Sala Mpasu Mask] [Baptismal Ceremony]
Buchanan Library Fellow: Faeid Hassan, Class of 2025
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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)