September 21, 2011 Unit 6 Assignment

The piece of artwork that I chose is the Kwakiutl Transformation mask. I chose this piece because just looking at it makes you wonder what all images it can produce. In the reading it states that the mask can change images by pulling on different strings located on it. The bright colors and shapes also attracted me to it. The frowning face, that represents the inside of the mask is quite unusual, it does directly depict an actual likeness of a face, and the outer parts look like the frame of the face. The book makes reference to the Kwakiutl people lived on the Vancouver Island, trading and warring with each other and their neighbors. But they produced great artwork like the mask which were used in Shaman ceremonies, and totem poles. The Kwakiutl are famed for their transformation masks. These massive American masks, up to eight feet long, are based around an animal form and open up during the ceremony to reveal an inner human character. This method links the human, animal and spiritual aspects of life. The winter period, called Tsetseka, meaning good humor, was used by the Kwakiutl as a time for celebrating. They believed that the spirits who had been at large in the world returned to the village to capture certain members of the population. The dances were often connected with the initiation of novices. Possessed by wild spirits the novices would disappear into the woods to be given the ancestral rites and then reappear as fully fledged members of the society. The spirit which possessed them was Bakbakwalanooksiwae (Cannibal at the north end of the World) who inspired them to eat human flesh, but there is no record of cannibalism having taken place, only of ritual enactment.

Works Cited * The page number in the book where the mask is located is 482 * http://www.mask-and-more-masks.com/American-Masks.html