Contact Us

Art Museum

Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Closed Sunday & Monday

Admission: Free

Centennial Complex

2111 East Willett Drive

Laramie, WY 82071

Phone: (307) 766-6622

Email: uwartmus@uwyo.edu

Find us on Instagram (Link opens a new window)Find us on Facebook (Link opens a new window)Find us on Twitter (Link opens a new window)Find us on LinkedIn (Link opens a new window)Find us on YouTube (Link opens a new window)

The Art of Disguise: Cultural Masks from the Art Museum Collection

February 7 – May 2, 2015

Colorado Gallery

mask maskII

Centered on the Art Museum’s ethnographic collections of West African, Papua New Guinea, and South American art, The Art of Disguise: Cultural Masks from the Art Museum Collections explores the highly developed art of the mask. By concealing the wearer’s face, masks serve as support for the spirit of deities, ancestors and cultural idols, which are often personified as human or animal, or a composite of the two. Used in performances, masks are used to celebrate rites of passage, funerals, or blessings and often teach moral lessons. A variety of masks from West Africa, Papua New Guinea, and South America on view demonstrate the range of types, styles, sizes, and materials of masks.

  • Funded in part by UW Art Museum Gala Funds

 

Images:

 

Left: Warrior’s Mask, Salampasu language group, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo), carved wood, metal, raffia, and bark strips, 21-1/2 x 11 x 9 inches, John and Pam Finley Collection, T2011.12.59

 

Right: Mbuya Mask, Western Pende, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo), not dated, carved wood, raffia, cloth, and fiber, 20 x 10 x 10 inches, John and Pam Finley Collection, T2011.12.100

Contact Us

Art Museum

Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Closed Sunday & Monday

Admission: Free

Centennial Complex

2111 East Willett Drive

Laramie, WY 82071

Phone: (307) 766-6622

Email: uwartmus@uwyo.edu

Find us on Instagram (Link opens a new window)Find us on Facebook (Link opens a new window)Find us on Twitter (Link opens a new window)Find us on LinkedIn (Link opens a new window)Find us on YouTube (Link opens a new window)