tour 15 of 15
Views from Africa
'Chaplande' mask
Some masks made by the Chewa people since
Independence in 1964 represent famous foreigners, including film
stars and singers, such as Elvis. This mask was made by an elderly
man who remembered seeing Charlie Chaplin films when he was at
primary school. In his own words, he made the mask 'to
resemble a very funny man with a long face'. The Chewa
dancer who wore this mask was dressed in a long black coat and a
white shirt.
Foreign
characters were only included in Chewa masked performances from the
eighteenth century. Initially, these 'foreigner'
masks represented Africans outside Chewa society, such as the Ngoni
warriors from South Africa who invaded Chewa territory and
disrupted trade routes in the nineteenth century. Later on, masks
depicting Europeans became popular. These masks could not be
classified as the 'spirits of the dead' but instead
were viewed as belonging to the 'bush' , the area
outside the village.