Guro (Gouro, Gwio, Kweni, Lo, Lorube), Côte d’Ivoire

Antelope zauli mask. The Guro people numbering about 200,000 live in the interior part of the country, surrounded by savannah and forest. Village life is regulated by a council of elders, representing each main family, and by secret societies. The Guro farm predominantly cotton, coffee and cocoa – the men clear the field and the women plant. Guro art is characteristically elegant. Their artistic output is dominated by masks. This bushbuck antelope mask is one of the three yu masks found among the northern Guro. The term yu can designate the association, all its objects, or one mask. Occasionally the trinity consisting of zauli, a horned mask like the present one, zamble, and its daughter, gu, is reduced to a zamble-gu pair. The zauli mask performes in some special occasions. Masks of this type are usually worn by two dancers, one mask representing the male, the other the female. They are used to detect and extinguish evil forces.

Material:  wood

Size:   27½”x 8”x 9”