Eharo Dance Mask before 1930

This Eharo Dance Mask was made by the Elema people with barkcloth, cane, fiber, pigment, and rattan. There's a real tactile quality to this mask, isn't there? It feels like you could reach out and touch the rough texture of the barkcloth, almost feel the give of it. The way the mask is constructed, with its slightly asymmetrical features and the way the pigment is applied, it has a kind of raw energy. The mouth is particularly striking. It’s not just a shape; it’s an opening, a void, almost like a shout. And the eyes – those concentric circles staring out – they’re not just seeing; they’re witnessing. There’s a playfulness here, too, in the way the patterns are arranged, and the way the arms jut out from the sides. It reminds me a bit of Picasso, in the way it breaks down and reassembles the human form, or maybe even some of the more expressionistic work of someone like Kirchner. Of course, this mask comes from a completely different cultural context, but there's a similar sense of pushing the boundaries of representation, of exploring what it means to be human through form and material. It’s a reminder that art is a conversation, a dialogue that spans cultures and centuries.