1. MASKS What are they & who wears them?

2. Party Masks – people have enjoyed dressing up in masks for thousands of years

3. In the 18 th century fashionable people bought their masks from mask makers

4. They wore them to parties – to misbehave So masks became associated with deception

5. People could pretend they were strangers

6. Although it’s unlikely that they didn’t recognise each other!

7. Venetian Carnival Masks In Venice they still dress up as they did In the 18 th century – for carnival

8. A much more convincing disguise!

9. Masks are also used for political protest

10. Some politicians have tried to ban them!

11. In the past masks were made from the faces of the dead

12. Classical masks representing Tragedy & Comedy Masks were very important in early European theatre

13. Greek & Roman masks were made from wood – so none have survived. This is carved from stone.

14. Theatre at Epidaurus – seen from above

15. Scene from Antigone - by Sophocles All the parts were played by men – women were forbidden from acting in the plays & even from watching them.

16. The chorus

17. Noh Theatre of Japan

18. This is an ancient art form which is still practised

19. The moves - & the masks – are passed on from generation to generation

20. Spirit Masks

21. Masks from Senegal in Africa

22. Many tribal people believe that the spirits of gods, ancestors and animals can live in a mask

23. They believe that by putting on a mask they can become that spirit, god or animal the mask represents

24. The dancer goes into a deep trance…

25. …and sometimes threatens the crowd.

26. Mask shop for tourists Many of these ‘spirit’ masks are now owned by collectors and are worth a lot of money

27. Native American owl mask Native American tribes have similar beliefs

28. A Seneca Indian’s fertility mask

29. Mexican girl/fertility mask Mexican masks combine Catholicism with pagan pre-Christian beliefs

30. Mexican carnival mask (sun god)

31. Mexican mask for death – or is it life?

32. Day of the Dead

34. Burmese masks – displayed in a Buddhist temple

35. Cambodian masks – of devils and animal spirits

36. Masks made by children

37. Arab women in Dubai

38. Is make-up a mask?

39. Make-up has been worn for 1,000’s of yrs

40. Make-up has been worn for thousands of years Egyptian Queen Nefertiti

41. Horus was the eye of protection – a good luck charm

42. Make-up has been worn by men and women for a long time. Does it hide our true feelings or help us express them?

43. And the hijab – does it hide who you are or express it?

44. Make-up & mask. The truth or a lie?

45. Does an actor hide behind a mask?

46. Or – does it allow the true self to come out?

47. ? ? What do you think?

48. Now is the time to find out !