Bassa Geh Naw Mask

"The Bassa are one of the largest of the Kru-speaking peoples and number just under 300,000. They inhabit an area of central Liberia stretching roughly 250 kilometers along the seacoast south of Monrovia and 175 kilometers into the interior. They practice shifting cultivation, with rice as the dominant crop in the interior and cassava more prominent near the coast. They are patrilineal and patrilocal, living in small settlements seldom numbering more than two hundred inhabitants. They have been strongly influenced by their Mande-speaking neighnors, especially the Dan and Kpelle. Like them and unlike most of their Kru-speaking relatives, the Bassa have both men's and women's initiation societies and practice both circumcision and clitoridectomy. They are chiefly noted for the carving of wooden masks and figures. These are in a distinctive style that nevertheless shows a strong affinities to that of the Dan.

The Geh Naw masks of the Bassa men's society, the chu den zo, are usually smaller than the human face and are not meant to be worn directly over it. Instead, they are attached obliquely to a rattan basketery frame so that the mask rests over the wearer's forehead. The person who wear the mask looks out, not through the eyes, which are seldom pierced, but trough a slit in the cloth that is suspended from the mask and the headdress. The Geh Naw masks are public entertainment who perform when the boys return from the bush schools, but also on many other occasions, such as the visits of important guests or on public holidays. They perform an exceptionally smooth, gliding dance which makes them appear to be floating on a cushion of air. The mask is intended to convey a sense of grace and serenity, the latter emphasized in the present example by the heavy-lidded or closed eyes."

Bibliography: Werner Schmalenbach (ed.), African Art, Prestel-Verlag, Munich, 1988, p.106