Do masquerades encompass a number of traditions across Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, and Ghana. Existing scholarship most closely associates these events with the Muslim residents of these regions, who sponsor the masks during a weeklong celebration at the conclusion of Ramadan. The naturalistic depictions cover a range of characters, including beautiful maidens, Muslim elders, sheep, and bush cows, among others. Presented within a clearing in front of the town’s Friday mosque, the performance begins with the sudden, dramatic entrance of nefyedou (literally, "he who frightens children"). Nefyedou clears the dancers’ circle of children who have crowded the arena. He then orders the spectators quiet before introducing the series of Do dancers who perform in pairs, each with a unique song and dance.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Do face mask
Artist:Senufo or Dyula artist
Date:19th–mid-20th century
Geography:Côte d'Ivoire, northern Côte d'Ivoire, Bandama River region
Culture:Senufo or Dyula peoples
Medium:Brass
Dimensions:H. 8 1/4 in. × W. 5 in. × D. 2 1/4 in. (21 × 12.7 × 5.7 cm)
Classification:Metal-Sculpture
Credit Line:The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979
Object Number:1979.206.205
[Robert L. Stolper Galleries, New York and Los Angeles, by 1961]; Nelson A. Rockefeller, New York, 1961, on loan to The Museum of Primitive Art, 1961–1978
Museum of Primitive Art. "Senufo Sculpture from West Africa," February 20, 1963–May 5, 1963.
Baltimore Museum of Art. "Senufo Sculpture from West Africa," Wednesday, February 20, 1963–Sunday, May 5, 1963.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Senufo Sculpture from West Africa," Wednesday, February 20, 1963–Sunday, May 5, 1963.
Museum of Primitive Art. "Faces," February 14, 1973–September 9, 1973.
American Federation of Arts. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," January 5, 1975–May 15, 1977.
Seattle Art Museum. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," January 5, 1975–February 16, 1975.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," March 23, 1975–May 4, 1975.
Dallas Museum of Art. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," June 8, 1975–July 20, 1975.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," August 25, 1975–October 10, 1975.
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," November 9, 1975–December 21, 1975.
Toledo Museum of Art. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," April 11, 1976–May 25, 1976.
Walker Art Center. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," June 27, 1976–August 8, 1976.
Denver Art Museum. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," September 10, 1976–November 7, 1976.
de Young Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," March 12, 1977–May 15, 1977.
Cleveland Museum of Art. "Beyond Senufo: Art, History and Style in West Africa," February 22, 2015–May 31, 2015.
Saint Louis Art Museum. "Beyond Senufo: Art, History and Style in West Africa," June 28, 2015–September 27, 2015.
Musée Fabre. "Beyond Senufo: Art, History and Style in West Africa," November 28, 2015–March 6, 2016.
Museum of Primitive Art. Traditional Art of the African Nations in the Museum of Primitive Art. New York: University Publishers, Inc., 1961, no. 31.
American Federation of Arts. Primitive Art Masterworks: an exhibition jointly organized by the Museum of Primitive Art and the American Federation of Arts, New York. New York: American Federation of Arts, 1974, no. 60.
Bravmann, René A. Islam and Tribal Art in West Africa. Cambridge University Press, 1974.
Convers, Michel. "Masques en étain sénoufo." Arts d'Afrique Noire vol. 16 (1975), 1979.206.205.
Newton, Douglas. Masterpieces of Primitive Art: The Nelson A. Rockefeller Collection. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978, p. 61.
Green, Kathryn L. "Shared Masking Traditions in Northeastern Ivory Coast." African Arts vol. 20, no.4 (August 1987).
Förster, Till. Die Kunst der Senufo: Museum Rietberg Zürich aus Schweizer Sammlungen. Zürich: Museum Rietberg, 1988.
Garrard, Timothy F. "Face Masks from The Senufo Region." In Art of Cote d'Ivoire: from the collections of the Barbier-Mueller Museum, edited by Jean Paul Barbier. Geneva: Musée Barbier-Mueller, 1993.
Veirman, Anja. "'Here a boy always becomes a sculptor, like his father': Albert Maesen and the Study of the Art of the Senufo." In Frans M. Olbrechts, 1899–1958: In Search of Art in Africa, edited by Constantine Petridis. Antwerp: Etnografisch Museum, 2001.
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The Met's collection of art of the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands, and North, Central, and South America comprises more than eleven thousand works of art of varied materials and types, representing diverse cultural traditions from as early as 3000 B.C.E. to the present.
