Page 69 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 14
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Art & Culture




                                             African masquerade costumes can    supported by poles who is jokingly
                                             seem somewhat eerie, they are      nicknamed “Give me paper.” Which
                                             sewn in secret using rags or sacks   means, give me money!
                                             or chicken feathers, animal skins or
                                             banana leaves. This garb is hidden   The Nyau brotherhood of the
                                             in forests or at the graveyard, far   Chewa people of Malawi, are the
                                             from prying eyes, until the ceremony   society entrusted with the perfor-
                                             it is for is held. Masquerade dances   mance of the Gule Wamkulu. They
                                             in Africa are still going strong, yes   do so for a wide range of ceremo-
                                             and this is because the people from   nies. Nyau is the Chichewa word
                                             these sects uphold their traditional   for Mask. In the Gule Wamkulu,
                                             cultures and pass them on from     there are different types of masks,
                 Abigirl Phiri               one generation to another. At most   each with its own rules, drumbeats
         Abigirl Phiri is a Ph.D student in commerce,   times these masquerade dances are   and dance rhythm. Each mask has a
         free-lance writer, poet, International Ambas-  as a result of a religious rite that is   unique color and design and spiritu-
          sador of  Peace, GBV activist, social entre-
         preneur, talent manager and an international   viewed as being of great significance   al meaning. During this dance, they
         marketer. More of  her work can be found on   by the participants.     can tackle social issues that would
           her Facebook Page: Words are forever.                                otherwise be deemed too sensitive
                                             Recently, where l live, there were   to discuss, because while they are in
                                             people holding a masquerade cele-  their costumes and masks, they are
          or costume and paired that with a   bration known as Gule Wamkulu,    seen as spirits, not as regular people.
          mask. This mask would be removed   or The Great Dance, that lasted the   As such, they can talk about prob-
          when the hour struck midnight, like   whole weekend. They were wearing   lems in the society, challenges with
          in the Cinderella’s fairytale story,   their usual garb and had covered   the leaders of the community, issues
          only then would everything return   their faces so that you couldn’t even   with relationships, you name it.
          back to normal as all would be     identify the person behind the mask.
          revealed.  Masquerade balls in the   Some even wore bizarre masks from   The most important figure that is
          west also merged with Halloween    the store and pink tights and were   represented at every dance is Kasiya
          masks and balls. These date back   using English names, such as Maria,   Maliro, the Great Mother of Gule
          to the Celtic festival of Samhain,   impersonating the coming of the   Wamkulu and the symbol of the
          honoring the end of summer and     white people and their Missus. I   mother of everything. The word
          beginning of winter. People wore   have come to the understanding, if   Kasiya Maliro originates from the
          scary masks to frighten the evil   one can look past their scary masks   DRC. This figure is said to be the
          spirits that they believed could pass   you can see the fascinating story be-  comforter of souls in transition
          through the boundary between the   hind and surrounding this tradition.   and is the most significant figure.
          world of the living and that of the   In some communities, the men    The great mother is said to be an
          dead (that was said to be very thin   dance energetically, whilst their   ancestral spirit in the form of an
          during this period) and cause harm   women folk sing the songs in their   antelope that was born from the
          to people. They wore costumes and   native tongue, while in others only   white and serene waters of the
          masks to trick the spirits and keep   the masquerade dancers are allowed   earthly depths, from which all the
          them from knowing who they were.   to learn the words to the songs and   Chewa spirits come, the depths of
          These masks were transformed into   to perform the songs and dances.   the world. Under its belly lies the
          extravagant jewel-encrusted artis-  For the festivities held near my   abyss of the world, the womb of
          tic designs for the balls held later,   home, the acrobatic dances were   the Great Ancestral Mother, and the
          during the Renaissance period in   accompanied by incessant drum      tomb. (cycloscope.net) The Chewa
          Italy, to hide the identities of the   beats. The Gule Wamkulu has found   society is largely matrilineal and the
          upper class and allow them to take   its way from Malawi to neighboring   Nyau are said to provide a counter-
          part in activities society generally did   communities in Zimbabwe, Mozam-  balance to that as well as solidarity
          not permit. The mask is a device for   bique, Angola and Zambia… having   among the Chewa men from various
          concealment, disguise, that is used   originated in the Democratic Repub-  villages.
          to hide a person or thing. It is used   lic of Congo. Interestingly, in the
          to express something in ritual or in   Zimbabwean perspective, there usu-  The Gule Wamkulu masquerade
          theatre.                           ally will be a tall masquerade dancer   dance is performed by initiated




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