BWINDI LIGHT MASKS

Forty identical masks coming from Bwindi National Park, at the innermost heart of black Africa, are placed in the dark space like small monoliths. The rite comes alive when the artificial light alters the hues of the masks, creating a still dance supported by the bi-vocal sounds of the Tuva people of Central Asia. This dance in turn paints a picture with shadows. A new rituality takes shape through universal anthropological archetypes: the African mask, which has always been a mediator between humans and the supernatural, the harmonic chants of the Tuva shamanic tradition, and light. The most interesting aspect of this timeless ritual lies precisely in the link between light and sound, which can often be found in ancient cultures where the sense of religious performance is created by the sound becoming substance and attracting divine light, so as to establish a contact between the divine and humans.