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There are many more masks that have been found to be in the African Culture, within similar regions to the ones that are shown on this moodboard.

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Woyo masks are usually painted with contrasting colors against a white background and are often worn with a full length costume made from banana leaves.

The colors used in a Woyo mask have symbolic meaning and are sometimes repainted to renew its power.
Woyo masks are carved for the ritual dances of the 'ndunga', a male society responsible for maintaining social order.

The Woyo believe in witchcraft. Ordeals by fire and poison are used to determine the guilt of those who have been practicing sorcery.

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Goma masks are easily identified by their elongated cylindrical forms, domed heads, large concave eye sockets with protruding eyes and their decoration with geometric abstract patterns. The Goma people come from around the northern shores of Lake Kivu, just north of Lake Tanganyika in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The region is part of the Great Rift Valley which experiences earthquakes and eruptions of the Nyiragongo and Nyamuragira volcanoes.
Goma is a the capital city of the North Kivu province, one kilometer from the Rwandan Border.

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The Lulua were famous for decorating their bodies with intricate scarification marks and tattoos. They also applied these designs to their sculptures and masks. The masks, which are rare, are usually incised with geometric pattern and colored with a reddish pigment. The pointed forms on the top of the head represent the Lulua hairstyle.The Lulua, previously called the Bena Lulua, are related to the Lwalwa and like them, the men hunt and the women farm.

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This type of African mask is a Baule mask which is also known as a Goli mask. It is used in tribal dances during harvest festivals, in processions to honor distinguished visitors and at the funerals of important figures.The circular face represents the life-giving force of the sun and the horns symbolize the great power of the buffalo. The mask is made of wood with two holes cut into the eyes to enable the wearer to see. The rectangular mouth is also typical of this type of mask.

The Baule are farmers who populate the eastern side of the Ivory Coast. They are part of the Akan people, one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa, who dwell in both Ghana and the Ivory Coast.

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African cultures often use masks to communicate with spirits or ‘other worlds’, they have been using masks since the earliest days of human civilisation. Their masks often represent animals or their ancestors, mythological heroes or they can be used as a form of honoring a person in a symbolic way. Animals are frequent theme of African art of mask making, because they represent the spirit of an animal and the one that bears the mask, becomes that animal himself which allows for communication with that animal, for instance to ask animal to keep away from the village. In other cases, animal is a symbol of virtue. The most common animals that are represented with masks are buffalo, hyena, hawk, crocodile and antelope. Antelope is one of the most widely used animal masks. It symbolizes agriculture and is worn to enable better crops. Horns represent growth of millet, legs root of the plants while ears represent songs that women sing in the harvest time.

They were often made out of wood (as it is one of the easiest materials to get hold of), pottery, textiles, copper and bronze which were quite luxurious materials to use. Finer details would have been made out of animal teeth, hair, bones and horns as well as feathers, seashells and even straw and egg shells, using these created different textures to the mask. The maker of all the masks in the community or village were seen as ‘high rankers’ in the village because it was believed that they could communicate with the spirit world, the making of the mask was passed down through the family.