Based on an exhibition of 180 masks—more than 100 from the outstanding collection at the Royal Museum of Central Africa of Tervuren, Belgium—and works by contemporary African artists, this extraordinary book offers a new interpretation of the mask as the universal object that both hides and reveals. Beautifully designed, Persona presents masks organized by their usage, the dances, and rituals they serve and the belief system they display. The contemporary works, selected for their artistry, formal boldness, and intrinsic message, arouse a similar aesthetic response, but serve a different function from the ritual masks. This stunningly illustrated and engaging book explores both the real and emblematic roles of the mask, as objects which are “devitalized” when placed in museums but which nevertheless prompt questions of identity, self-esteem and conceptions of the Other in Western society.

Based on an exhibition of 180 masks—more than 100 from the outstanding collection at the Royal Museum of Central Africa of Tervuren, Belgium—and works by contemporary African artists, this extraordinary book offers a new interpretation of the mask as the universal object that both hides and reveals. Beautifully designed, Persona presents masks organized by their usage, the dances, and rituals they serve and the belief system they display. The contemporary works, selected for their artistry, formal boldness, and intrinsic message, arouse a similar aesthetic response, but serve a different function from the ritual masks. This stunningly illustrated and engaging book explores both the real and emblematic roles of the mask, as objects which are “devitalized” when placed in museums but which nevertheless prompt questions of identity, self-esteem and conceptions of the Other in Western society.