Nam Gbalang Chamba mask, Nigeria, c. 1960

The Chamba wear a type of mask that symbolises a forest spirit. The mask has a rounded head with a flattened open mouth and two large backward-sloping horns. The spherical part of the Chamba mask is related to death, as it is said to be like a skull, an ancestral relic taken from an old man's grave. Other features are the open jaws are those of the crocodile, the horns are those of the forest buffalo. The wearer looks through an opening between the two jaws. Height: 72 cm Reproduced: Catalogue “Africa Babel: the Art of a Continent”, p.- 164
 
Exhibitions:
2022-2024 Island of Fuerteventura “Art Africa: Ancestral Light”. Lighthouse of the Entallada. Cabildo of Fuerteventura.
2021-2022 Panama City. Government of Panama. “Art Africa: the spirit of the ancestors”. Ministry of Culture Headquarters. Casco Viejo.
2019-2020 Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Caja Canarias Foundation. “Africa-Babel: the art of a Continent”. Headquarters Plaza Patriotismo.
2013-2015 Museum of Art of Africa and Oceania (Madao). La Granja de San Ildefonso, Segovia.
2005 “Black Africa”, Leather Museum.
2004 “Black Africa”. Caixa Laietana Foundation, Barcelona. Main exhibition hall