African Art: Mask Performance in the Bwa Village of Boni, Burkina Faso

Mask Performances: Gnoumou Family Village of Boni Purification of the Neighborhood. Several types of masks that represent the power of the spirit Lanle appear in the village, including the serpent, crocodile, monkey, planks, and others.
The initiates learn the meanings of the geometric signs that cover the masks, explained by elders, who use the masks themselves as models, and who also use rectangular boards on which the same signs have been painted. Initially, each of the signs is explained independently of other signs, using didactic boards. Then the meanings of the assembled signs on specific plank masks are explained. Here, as among the gurunsi, the combination of signs communicates a moral or historical lesson that is an essential part of the initiation. These lessons describe the virtues of the ideal, respected member of the community, and the dangers of straying from the path of social behavior marked out by the ancestors. They also illustrate the myths of the founding of the clans. The meaning of each sign can vary depending on the age and level of understanding of the initiate, for only the oldest understand the most profound meanings of the signs. Meaning also can vary with context, with a single sign given different meanings on two different masks. As a result, these do not qualify as elements of a universal language whose meaning should not vary with context, but they are didactic symbols in an esoteric language open to several interpretations depending on need.