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Dugn’be Mask
This African mask is called the Dugn’be Mask, meaning “the ox raised in the village.” Young men of Bissagos Islands’ initiation ceremonies often wear it, which marks the men’s formal entrance into adulthood. The cord running through the nostrils of the ox mask enforces this fact that both the young men and the ox’s strength must be controlled and encouraged. Made out of wood, glass, hide, cow horns, fiber, metal, and pigment, it makes one wonder how anyone can survive under such a large and heavy mask. One thing that is unique about this mask is that while many African masks resemble human figures, this mask resembles an animal, the ox.