African Art Museum Experience

Going to two of the most popular museums in New York City to learn about African art and history did not seem of interest to me until I was forced to by the Summer Class I was taking at Pace. In my mind I kept thinking it was going to be a waste of my time when I could be enjoying my summer weekend in the city. However, I was mistaken and my breath was taken away from our history of humans to the African tradition and how it impacts us. This project showed me the connection of art and history in Africa. When I arrived at the Metropolitan Museum of Art I did not realize that since its summer there are a bunch of tourists who also want to see the worlds most famous museum. The line was so long I wanted to leave. Getting inside I was eager to see if this African Art Collection lived to the potential that my professor had made it. Looking around I was surprised to see how many masks there …show more content…
It was from the Sierra Leone, the Moyamba district to be exact. This mask was made out of two objects, which were wood and metal. The mask was meant to be made for someone with the hand of power, a master. From my perspective it looked like a king would wear this mask because of the color it had. A very dark color with sharp edges at the top made it only appropriate for someone with higher authority to wear it. This masks representation is of a guardian spirit of Sande. Guardian spirits tend to be for the weak but this was a spirit for the women and their education and moral values. It was only to be worn at performances to celebrate the completion of the young initiation-training period. Also a fun fact that I found interesting was that this mask was used for medical purposes as well. For example, the Humui, a medicine society for men and women, this mask was used to treat mental illnesses. This mask just made it another reason why I found the African art collection to be my