Bo Nun Amun Mask
"The Albino," wood, 84.5 cm. Museum for African Art, Gift of Helen & Robert Kuhn (Photo provided by Facing the Mask)
The Bo Nun Amun mask is made by the Baule peoples from West Africa.[1] It’s an interesting mask that looks similar to a make-believe animal creature, with its teeth showing and horns protruding out of the back of its head, giving off a feisty look. Made of wood, it can either have a bunch of sacrificial items poured on it or it can be painted with sacrificial items dabbed on the bottom side of the mask.[1] Either way the mask is closely associated with sacrificial accumulations, which can include blood, semen, feathers, eggs and among other things. The outfit that goes along with this mask would be made of raffia because the Bo Nun Amun is from the the bush.[1] The Baule people also keep the mask in the bush as well. [2] It will never be stored in the village because of its origin in the woods.[1]
This mask is part of a male secret group. Only men who have gone through a private initiation like ceremony will be able to participate in the performance of this mask.[1] No women or children are able to see the performance. They are asked to stay inside or to leave the area when the performance is going on.[1] The reason for this is because the mask indicates a threat to all women in the society.[1] It also is said that if a woman were to see the mask she would die.[1] Even though this is the belief of this mask it is also meant to protect the people in the village, and to punish the women. [2] The performances are also done for important male figures and at past performers funerals. [1] Overall, the Bo Nun Amun mask is a representation of maleness within the Baule society and the power that comes from its sacrificial items that are on it.
1. Susan Vogel, African Art Western Eyes, (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1997), 141-145 & 205-213.
2. Frank Herreman, Facing the Mask, (Munich: THe Museum of African Art and Prestel , 1996), 24-32,36.