Mask and headdress
1850 - 1980
"My name is Won Ldy Paye-I'm from Liberia, I'm a Dan-speaking person. And in order to understand the Dan people, you have to know Gle, which means 'mask.' You see them on different occasions. Why does it structure every Dan's life, every Dan person's culture? Masks are when your real identity dies and becomes something else. So there's no more Won Ldy-Won Ldy dies and becomes something else. The person's real identity is hidden. Gle comes in. When we say gle, we're talking about a different realm of life, where the person dies and takes on a new personality that has nothing to do with his real physical self.
"So we say the Gle Dan is the voice or representation of all our ancestors that have died, and yet survive in hills, trees, or river. These are the only forces that can bring us news from our ancestors. To us, then, the masks have to be structured into society. Are you a mask that entertains, that is warlike, or one that lives your life to be a judicial person?
"When I was young, I dreamed of being chased by masks. My parents thought the way to solve this problem was to introduce Won Ldy to a lot of masks, there's where my interest in masks began. I went to villages trying to see what I could see-wrestling matches, market day with performers-and the dream began to slow down. I explained my dream to George Tabman (a Minister of Culture). He said, 'You're like a traditional scholar. You're going to become a mask-you're going to become an educator.' I thought he was joking. So, when I got older, I took the few masks I had collected and I moved into Monrovia, a melting pot of tribal groups, where there was an abundance of masks. I started working at the Liberian National Culture Center, and began the Children's 'Trou Trou' Artists' Workshop. Masks became a part of my life, and the dream has gone away.
In Liberia, masks came out on days that kids looked forward to, during the harvest time. So when the mask comes, it comes with food. It comes with dancing. Masks not only help people look different but they bring people together. It helps to make people to be as one. We use masks as an I.D.--we are from the same group, from the same school, we learn about the same things.
"Ga Wree Wree, the final decision maker, does not dance. It is above all of them, and does not come down to the level of any other. It's like our President, right? Our President doesn't come down to be at our level, he makes the decision and we have to accept it. Same thing with Ga Wree Wree, who comes to take his position in the village, either in the center of a crowd, or in front of a building, and bring people to attention. The Ga Wree Wree comes because there are problems in the community that have not been solved for many years. We all reach a point where we accept the decision of the Ga Wree Wree so that there can be peace and the community can continue." (Won Ldy Paye, 2002)
Cotton cloth
80 3/4 x 63 3/8 in. (205.1 x 161 cm)
Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company
81.17.197.2
Provenance: [Merton D. Simpson Gallery, New York]; purchased from gallery by Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, 1968; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1981
