What does this represent?
This would have been used in a ceremony one year after the death of a Pamí’wa individual. It celebrated the individual's life, conveyed acknowledgement of he or she going to a better place in their death, and also represents the primordial animal spirits. The smiles show that they are benevolent spirits, but not all of the masks have smiling faces.
After the ceremony the masks were destroyed or re-purposed into bags, and some entered the art market and sold to museums.
How were people able to breathe or see when wearing this?
The wearer could through the barkcloth mask, which is thin and porous
Wow, it would have been hard while dancing!
The wearer's face would actually be behind where the painted face was. They would have been able to breathe, but visibility would be very low since the bark cloth really only lets in light. I would imagine that this would have been very uncomfortable to dance in, yes! Did you read on the label that the masks are made for the specific ceremony? We don't exactly know who wore the mask, but it is likely a male relative of the deceased.
Yes. And it's interesting that this was a year after death. Was it annual or just the first anniversary only?
After looking through notes, I found a bit of a dated anthropological source (from 1979 so I am not sure how reliable this is), but it seems to imply that the ceremonies were/are held for specific individuals, and just once to allow for the spirit of the dead to say farewell to the community. To me, this seems to imply that once the person is gone, they are gone, so you would only have the ceremony once.
That's really interesting. It's different from other cultures like Judaism where you light a candle every year.
Not much description with this one? Why are their faces covered?
This photograph shows the Anthropomorphic Masks by Pamí’wa, also known as Cubeo, artists in a contextual setting. The mask, which is in a nearby case, would have been worn for a ceremony one year after the death of a member of the community.
Often when museums collect masks or regalia, it can be hard to envision how the object would have looked during its ritual or societal life. Archival and contextual images are one way to add that dimension back to a work, which was not likely meant to be viewed in a static environment.
What are the things on top of their heads. It looks like feathers and faces?
They are feathers on top of little faces! These people are playing spirit-characters in a special ceremony which was one year after a person's death.
What ceremonies was this used in?
This would have been used for an ónyo, or "weeping" ceremony, a ceremony of mourning!
This weeping ceremony would last multiple days, and be held about a year after an individual died.
Nice!
