A tall hand-carved Nwantantay plank mask from the southern Bwa people of Burkina Faso, south of Dédougou. Masks like this represent the nature spirits that elders are said to have met in the wild, watching over their families.
The carved patterns each carry meaning: the zig-zag is the path of the ancestors that the Bwa must follow through adversity, and the concentric circles are sacred wells, home to the water spirit. They're danced — by performers in thick costumes of brightly dyed hemp — at market days, initiations and the yearly yam festival.
