Roughly 44" H x 20" W (at widest point)

Hand crafted from wood & paint 

Sourced from   Ivory Coast / Bondoukou region

Society: Nafana

The Bedu masquerading tradition is limited to the region of Bondoukou. Bedu masks appeared among the Nafana in the 1920's. Bedu masks are danced by athletic young men with agility and grace. They can be up to 3 metres tall. They usually appear in male and female pairs during month-long harvest festivals. The masks keep disaster, illness and infertility at bay, and increase the community's sense of well-being.  Circular horns decorated with a triangle pattern mark the masks as masculine. The female counterpart is usually characterized by a more elaborate disk-shaped superstructure.