Polarity: The Inspiration

I first painted a Ghanaian mask in the We Wear the Masks class. When I painted that mask, I didn’t have as good of an understanding of Ghanaian culture and history as I do now after having read Homegoing and having spent a month in Ghana. The red of the face in the mask represents fire and the blue of the tears represents water. I thought to use these symbols because of Homegoing. I used them to represent the pain of Ghana’s past, of slavery, how some Ghanaians contributed to the slave trade, and the pain that left behind in Africa and the pain felt by the millions of Africans who were stolen and tortured that is still felt today. I used cowrie shells to represent the tears because cowrie shells used to be the currency used in Ghana. This represents how money, and the lure of wealth was the cause of the evil the British committed in Africa, but also the reason why some Ghanaians contributed to it. I used gold on the lips to also represent the greed that led to the slave trade and to show how evil money can be.

Though it’s difficult to see in this picture, I painted the underside of the mask a dark green. This was meant to represent the richness and natural beauty of the land. I think that the beauty of Ghana is not recognized as much as it should be which is why I used green to paint the underside, a part of the mask that can’t be seen as well. It’s also the natural beauty and richness of the land that was taken advantage of and used for evil which is why Ghana was named “The Gold Coast”. I used the Adinkra symbol Aya on the ears to represent the endurance and resourcefulness of the Ghanaian people. The Adinkra Dictionary says that “an individual who wears this symbol suggests that he has endured many adversities and outlasted much difficulty.” This is next to the eyes that I painted bright and bold to represent how the Ghanaian people, despite having endured adversity, are strong.

The top of the mask is more celebratory and festive. This is above the more somber bottom half of the mask to represent how Ghana seems to be more celebratory, happy, and kind and even tends to cover up the pain of the past. This is even shown through how funerals in Ghana a more happy and festive occasions rather than sad ones. I used cowrie shells to line the brow and gold on the head of the mask to show how Ghanaian culture is rich. I also used it to juxtapose the use of cowrie shells and gold in the bottom half of the mask to show how money and wealth isn’t always evil, that it can also represent the richness and wealth of a culture.