Origin: Bamana ethnic group, Mali

Date: 2nd half XX century

Description: Mask of the Baman people of the Ntomo Secret Society. The ntomo masks depict a human face with two to eight horns on top, known as ma kolo (bones). The eyes, nose and mouth of the mask are always strongly marked to reflect the knowledge acquired through the senses about other people and the world. The number of horns on top of an ntomo mask indicates gender. Masks with three or six horns are considered male, those with four or eight horns are female, and those ending with two, five or seven horns represent an androgenic entity.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The purchase is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport as part of the National Institute of Museums and Collections' own program "Expansion of museum collections".