To me, mask can hide my identity. When mask cover apart of my face, you won't recognize me. Mask can protect me, but not for long.
And so I'm doing research about mask. There's way too many type of mask. I think I going to categorise it.
- Theatrical Masks
- Culture Masks
- Festive Masks
- Character Masks
- Protection Masks
- Beauty Masks
- Unseen Masks
The History
Ancient Greek people use theatrical masks for ritual purpose. In other words, rituals were primitive theatre. During that time, acting skill and an art were not develop and the audience were not yet to be train to imagine what the character were playing on the stage. Therefore, they uses theatre mask as a way to show the audience about the character that they were watching. Beside using theatre mask to portray the character, they also use for another purpose. For example, the ancient Greek theatre masks had a unique oval shaped mouth which functioned as a megaphone, allowing all of the hundreds of thousands of spectators to hear what was going on. Some used them for ceremonies such as worshipping their mythical gods, by wearing overly sized mask and exaggerated looking.
Middle Age used them in mystery plays written by priest and clerics of the church to send a message of effect of sins and how to redeem themselves from their sins. The mask is used to dramatize a certain character to the extreme(emphasizing). The plays usually consist of devils, Satans and monstrous creatures(vampires, etc) made of paper mache(paper shaped mask)
Renaissance Italy in 15th century Venice, the revolutionary art form commedia dell arte. A form of play where ridiculously looking masks are used for creating a comedy act. It is said the mask is used for both concealing and revealing to *what this means*
The uses of the theatrical masks
Type (purpose of it in different country)
North America - The Inuits (Eskimo people) made burial mask to honor their dead made from either leather, bones or wood.
Chinese uses mask for lion dance.
Japanese Noh made of porcelain white and has minimal facial features.
Oceania - Hawaii and the Maori have fierce-looking full-face masks. Gigantic masks from the South Pacific were not meant to be worn but were used in rituals.
Ancient Greek people use theatrical masks for ritual purpose. In other words, rituals were primitive theatre. During that time, acting skill and an art were not develop and the audience were not yet to be train to imagine what the character were playing on the stage. Therefore, they uses theatre mask as a way to show the audience about the character that they were watching. Beside using theatre mask to portray the character, they also use for another purpose. For example, the ancient Greek theatre masks had a unique oval shaped mouth which functioned as a megaphone, allowing all of the hundreds of thousands of spectators to hear what was going on. Some used them for ceremonies such as worshipping their mythical gods, by wearing overly sized mask and exaggerated looking.
Middle Age used them in mystery plays written by priest and clerics of the church to send a message of effect of sins and how to redeem themselves from their sins. The mask is used to dramatize a certain character to the extreme(emphasizing). The plays usually consist of devils, Satans and monstrous creatures(vampires, etc) made of paper mache(paper shaped mask)
Renaissance Italy in 15th century Venice, the revolutionary art form commedia dell arte. A form of play where ridiculously looking masks are used for creating a comedy act. It is said the mask is used for both concealing and revealing to *what this means*
The uses of the theatrical masks
- Developed in the western civilization during Ancient Greece used for impersonating a god of fecundity and the harvest named Dionysus.
- Middle Age used them as images of the seven deadly sins by actors playing scripts prepared by church clerics and priest.
- In Short- To enroll in ancient rituals. To present oneself as another character in play. As a comedian act for entertainment to others.
Type (purpose of it in different country)
North America - The Inuits (Eskimo people) made burial mask to honor their dead made from either leather, bones or wood.
Chinese uses mask for lion dance.
Japanese Noh made of porcelain white and has minimal facial features.
Oceania - Hawaii and the Maori have fierce-looking full-face masks. Gigantic masks from the South Pacific were not meant to be worn but were used in rituals.
Culture Masks
The History
Culture mask has many difference however still share some similarity such as majority are used for rituals.
Egyptian era where the mask is made of solid gold for the dead (king Tutankhamun) as they believe the dead will rise back to life.
African masks were made thousands of years ago by prehistoric artisans. They were made of a variety of materials such as fabric, wood, leather and even metal. The masks were often worn in religious rituals to portray the ancestors' spirits and good or evil mythological beings. The masks, because they represent the ancestors' spirits, were normally very valuable to families and were honoured with gifts and special ceremonies.
Egyptian era where the mask is made of solid gold for the dead (king Tutankhamun) as they believe the dead will rise back to life.
African masks were made thousands of years ago by prehistoric artisans. They were made of a variety of materials such as fabric, wood, leather and even metal. The masks were often worn in religious rituals to portray the ancestors' spirits and good or evil mythological beings. The masks, because they represent the ancestors' spirits, were normally very valuable to families and were honoured with gifts and special ceremonies.
The uses of culture mask
Such as Hawaiian tiki mask used as decoration in the modern day. Many believe that they represent deities and gods. Furthermore, Hawaiian tiki mask characterized by menacing expressions and wide open mouths to believed to ward off evil spirits and boost fertility.
Chinese opera mask used bright colours for their mask such as red n yellow. Until today, they are still used but for entertainment purpose or operatic purposes (related to movie/drama making) and are valuable to collectors.
Type (purpose of it in different country)
- In general all over the world, shaman or underworld believers still uses mask to help reach the spirit world by making a mask symbolizing the animal/god they wish to commune.
- Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest holds the reputation for creating the most cultural mask. It is used mainly for rituals and entertainment. Sometimes practiced for medical purposes.
Festive Masks
The History
Carnival of Venice, where citizens will dress up as mysterious characters with emotionless mask and walk in broad day light after ‘Repubblica della Serenissima’(previous name of Venice) achieved victory against Aquileia (an ancient Roman city in Italy)
China -Wedding masks were used to pray for good luck and a lasting marriage, and "Swallowing Animal" masks were associated with protecting the home and symbolized the "swallowing" of disaster.
Sardinia, Italy- festival ‘Mamuthones e Issohadores’ (Mamuthones and Issohadores ). Namely two character are distinguished by their clothes and the way they walk as they march. The Mamuthones marches wearily and silent, like slaves in chains (should be known as ‘ugly’ in theatrical view), Issohadores dresses colorful and lively and gives movement to the procession (parade) (character may be known as ‘handsome/good’).
Sardinia, Italy- festival ‘Mamuthones e Issohadores’ (Mamuthones and Issohadores ). Namely two character are distinguished by their clothes and the way they walk as they march. The Mamuthones marches wearily and silent, like slaves in chains (should be known as ‘ugly’ in theatrical view), Issohadores dresses colorful and lively and gives movement to the procession (parade) (character may be known as ‘handsome/good’).
The Uses of Festive Masks
Carnival of Venice, celebrating memorial of a victorious battle against enemies and the resurrection of the event. To welcome tourist and visitors to their country by being lively.
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Chinese New Year, Lion Dance is perform as a tradition of spotting a lion whereby china did not have lions but was migrated from India. Showing that the lion is not as fierce as it looks to be strong and powerful, it is actually benevolent and tamed. Chinese has it that it may be on par with the symbolic Dragon, Phoenix and Qi Lin in the Chinese epic (epic referring to legends or old books or folk tale.)
- To imitate characters from legends or fictional stories told by folks.
- Celebrating an event or to provide entertainment to the crowd with tricks and short act while actors conceal their appearance.
- Part of a tradition during yearly events such as Carnival of Venice and Lion Dance from Chinese New Year.
Carnival of Venice, celebrating memorial of a victorious battle against enemies and the resurrection of the event. To welcome tourist and visitors to their country by being lively.
Chinese New Year, Lion Dance is perform as a tradition of spotting a lion whereby china did not have lions but was migrated from India. Showing that the lion is not as fierce as it looks to be strong and powerful, it is actually benevolent and tamed. Chinese has it that it may be on par with the symbolic Dragon, Phoenix and Qi Lin in the Chinese epic (epic referring to legends or old books or folk tale.)
Character Masks
What I mean by character masks are more to superherotic masks. They hide their own characteristic to save the world or giving happiness to the others.
For examples:
Superhero
A superhero (sometimes rendered super-hero or super hero) is a type of stock character possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers" and dedicated to protecting the public.
Clown
here is the best link that I manage to find.
Magician often wear mask for the purpose to hide their technique and show a well performance to make the viewer guess. Imagine when the magician make a wrong step, he might not able to stand up bravely on the stage to perform well again, is almost same like the clown. This are only my point of view.
Protection Masks
A inventions that aid and protect the ability to breath where gas, smoke or other poisonous fumes exist, were being made before the first use of modern chemical weapons.
Beauty Masks
Now I going to talk about beauty mask, the topic that I love the most. Haha....
First of all is skin protection, we use it to prevent our face from getting wrinkle and blemishes and it helps to whiten our face. Women often have to take care more about their looks and skin because we tend to have lots of hormone changes as we grow older.
Beside that, make-up is a beauty mask too.
As usual, to cover blemish.
Giving a presentable looks to the others and looking more professional.
Make-up able to change our looks, as the make-up technique used are different.
Unseen Masks
Unseen masks is our character that are being used when we face different people in different situation. It happens in our daily life. Sometimes we might be tired from acting in front of the person, and might loose control at some point. Still be yourself, you will be happy.
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