A wood helmet mask by the Senufo peoples of Ivory Coast.
"The question of exactly how and why masks work is a topic of continuing scholarly debate. Indeed, as a field, African art history - and this should be true of all art histories - exists in a state of perpetual revision; the research database never shuts down. This is one of the things that make the field so exciting. It also obliges every new exhibition to acknowledge, if not actively advance, fresh ideas. "Facing the Mask," organized by Frank Herreman, deputy director for exhibitions and publications at the museum, does so, to some degree." [nyt]
:: comment :: not a comment about this post but concerning the previous post on teachers . . . noticed very few fellow sites use the google it macro that radio/userland offers . . . tried it on the previous post & led to this fascinating site
