to the sacred. this is often accomplished by linking the mask to an ancestral presence, and thus bringing the past into the present. as a culture of scattered islands and peninsulars, melanesian mask forms have developed in a highly diversified fashion, with a great deal of variety in their construction and aesthetic. in papua new guinea, six-metre-high totem masks are placed to protect the living from spirits; whereas the duk-duk and tubuan masks of new guinea are used to enforce social codes by intimidation. they are conical masks, made from cane and leaves. north america kwakwaka'wakw ritual mask (painted wood, fiber, and cord) arctic coastal groups have tended towards simple religious practice but a highly evolved and rich mythology, especially concerning hunting. in some areas, annual shamanic ceremonies involved masked dances and these strongly abstracted masks are arguably the most striking artifacts produced in this region. inuit groups vary widely and do not share a common mythology or language. not surprisingly their mask traditions are also often different, although their masks are often made out of driftwood, animal skins, bones, and feathers. in some areas inuit women use finger masks during storytelling and dancing. pacific northwest coastal indigenous groups were generally highly skilled woodworkers. their masks were often master-pieces of carving, sometimes with movable jaws, or a mask within a mask, and parts moved by pulling cords. the carving of masks was an important feature of wood craft, along with many other features that often combined the utilitarian with the symbolic, such as shields, canoes, poles, and houses. woodland tribes, especially in the north-east and around the great lakes, cross-fertilized culturally with one another. the iroquois made spectacular wooden ‘false face’ masks, used in healing ceremonies and carved from living trees. these masks appear in a great variety of shapes, depending on their precise function. pueblo craftsmen produced impressive work for masked religious ritual, especially the hopi and zuni. the kachinas, god/spirits, frequently take the form of highly distinctive and elaborate masks that are used in ritual dances. these are usually made of leather with appendages of fur, feathers or leaves. some cover the face, some the whole head and are often highly abstracted forms. navajo masks appear to be inspired by the pueblo prototypes. in more recent times, masking is a common feature of mardi gras traditions, most notably in new orleans. costumes and masks (originally inspired by masquerade balls) are frequently worn by krewe members on mardi gras day. laws against concealing one's identity with a mask are suspended for the day. latin america aztec mask of xiuhtecuhtli, c. 1500, of mixtec-aztec provenance distinctive styles of masks began to emerge in pre-hispanic america about 1200 bc, although there is evidence of far older mask forms. in the andes, masks were used to dress the faces of the dead. these were originally made of fabric, but later burial masks were sometimes made of beaten copper or gold, and occasionally of clay. for the aztecs, human skulls were prized as war trophies, and skull masks were not uncommon. masks were also used as part of court entertainments, possibly combining political with religious significance. in post-colonial latin america, pre-columbian traditions merged with christian rituals, and syncretic masquerades and ceremonies, such as all souls/day of the dead developed, despite efforts of the church to stamp out the indigenous traditions. masks remain an important feature of popular carnivals and religious dances, such as the dance of the moors and christians. mexico, in particular, retains a great deal of creativity in the production of masks, encouraged by collectors. wrestling matches, where it is common for the participants to wear masks, are very popular, and many of the wrestlers can be considered folk heroes. for instance, the popular wrestler el santo continued wearing his mask after retirement, revealed his face briefly only in old age, and was buried wearing his silver mask. china a peking opera mask in china, masks are thought to have originated in ancient religious ceremonies. images of people wearing masks have been found in rock paintings along the yangtze. later mask forms brings together myths and symbols from shamanism and buddhism. sanxingdui bronze mask with protruding eyes, shu shigong dance masks were used in shamanic rituals to thank the gods, while nuo dance masks protected from bad spirits. wedding masks were used to pray for good luck and a lasting marriage, and "swallowing animal" masks were associated with protecting the home and symbolised the "swallowing" of disaster. opera masks were used in a basic "common" form of opera performed without a stage or backdrops. these led to colourful facial patterns that we see in today's peking opera. india/sri lanka/indo-china masked characters, usually divinities, are a central feature of indian dramatic forms, many based on depicting the epics mahabharata and ramayana. countries that have had strong indian cultural influences – cambodia, burma, indonesia, thailand, and lao – have developed the indian forms, combined with local myths, and developed their own characteristic styles. the masks are usually highly exaggerated and formalised, and share an aesthetic with the carved images of monstrous heads that dominate the facades of hindu and buddhist temples. these faces or kirtimukhas, 'visages of glory', are intended to ward off evil and are associated with the animal world as well as the divine. during ceremonies, these visages are given active form in the great mask dramas of the south and south-eastern asian region. indonesia in indonesia, the mask dance predates hindu-buddhist influences. it is believed that the use of masks is related to the cult of the ancestors, which considered dancers the interpreters of the gods. native indonesian tribes such as dayak have masked hudoq dance that represents nature spirits. in java and bali, masked dance is commonly called topeng and demonstrated hindu influences as it often feature epics such as ramayana and mahabharata. the native story of panji also popular in topeng masked dance. indonesian topeng dance styles are widely distributed, such as topeng bali, cirebon, betawi, malang, yogyakarta, and solo. japan mask of tengu japanese masks are part of a very old and highly sophisticated and stylized theatrical tradition. although the roots are in prehistoric myths and cults, they have developed into refined art forms. the oldest masks are the gigaku. the form no longer exists, and was probably a type of dance presentation. the bugaku developed from this – a complex dance-drama that used masks with moveable jaws. the nō or noh mask evolved from the gigaku and bugaku and are acted entirely by men. the masks are worn throughout very long performances and are consequently very light. the nō mask is the supreme achievement of japanese mask-making. nō masks represent gods, men, women, madmen and devils, and each category has many sub-divisions. kyōgen are short farces with their own masks, and accompany the tragic nō plays. kabuki is the theatre of modern japan, rooted in the older forms, but in this form masks are replaced by painted faces. korea a korean mask worn by a talchum performer korean masks have a long tradition associated with shamanism and later in ritual dance. korean masks were used in war, on both soldiers and their horses; ceremonially, for burial rites in jade and bronze and for shamanistic ceremonies to drive away evil spirits; to remember the faces of great historical figures in death masks; and in the arts, particularly in ritual dances, courtly, and theatrical plays. the present uses are as miniature masks for tourist souvenirs, or on mobile phones, where they hang as good-luck talismans. middle east golden masks excavated from the kalmakareh cave in lorestan, iran, first half of first millennium bc, national museum of iran theatre in the middle east, as elsewhere, was initially of a ritual nature, dramatising human relationships with nature, the deities, and other human beings. it grew out of sacred rites of myths and legends performed by priests and lay actors at fixed times and often in fixed locations. folk theatre – mime, mask, puppetry, farce, juggling – had a ritual context in that it was performed at religious or rites of passage such as days of naming, circumcisions, and marriages. over time, some of these contextual ritual enactments became divorced from their religious meaning and they were performed throughout the year. some 2500 years ago, kings and commoners alike were entertained by dance and mime accompanied by music where the dancers often wore masks, a vestige of an earlier era when such dances were enacted as religious rites. according to george goyan, this practice evoked that of roman funeral rites where masked actor-dancers represented the deceased with motions and gestures mimicking those of the deceased while singing the praise of their lives (see masks in performance above). europe greek mask meteņi mumming group (budēļi, buduļi or būduļi) of zemgale and courland regions in latvia, 2016 a venetian carnival mask the oldest representations of masks in europe are animal masks, such as the cave paintings of lascaux in the dordogne in southern france. such masks survive in the alpine regions of austria and switzerland, and may be connected with hunting or shamanism. masks are used throughout europe in modern times, and are frequently integrated into regional folk celebrations and customs. old masks are preserved and can be seen in museums and other collections, and much research has been undertaken into the historical origins of masks. most probably represent nature spirits, and as a result many of the associated customs are seasonal. the original significance would have survived only until the introduction of christianity, which incorporated many of the customs into its own traditions. in that process their meanings were changed also so, for example, old gods and goddesses originally associated with the celebrations were demonised and viewed as mere devils, or were subjugated to the abrahamic god. many of the masks and characters used in european festivals belong to the contrasting categories of the 'good', or 'idealised beauty', set against the 'ugly' or 'beastly' and grotesque. this is particularly true of the germanic and central european festivals. another common type is the fool, sometimes considered to be the synthesis of the two contrasting types, handsome and ugly. masks also tend to be associated with new year and carnival festivals. the debate about the meaning of these and other mask forms continues in europe, where monsters, bears, wild men, harlequins, hobby horses, and other fanciful characters appear in carnivals throughout the continent. it is generally accepted that the masks, noise, colour, and clamour are meant to drive away the forces of darkness and winter, and open the way for the spirits of light and the coming of spring. in sardinia existed the tradition of mamuthones e issohadores of mamoiada; boes e merdules of ottana; thurpos of orotelli; s'urtzu, su 'omadore and sos mamutzones of samugheo. another tradition of european masks developed, more self-consciously, from court and civic events, or entertainments managed by guilds and co-fraternities. these grew out of the earlier revels and had become evident by the 15th century in places such as rome and venice, where they developed as entertainments to enliven towns and cities. thus the maundy thursday carnival in st. marks square in venice, attended by the doge and aristocracy, also involved the guilds, including a guild of maskmakers. there is evidence of 'commedia dell'arte'-inspired venetian masks and by the late 16th century the venetian carnival began to reach its peak and eventually lasted a whole 'season' from january until lent. by the 18th century, it was already a tourist attraction, goethe saying that he was ugly enough not to need a mask. the carnival was repressed during the napoleonic republic, although in the 1980s its costumes and the masks aping the 18th century heyday were revived. it appears other cities in central europe were influenced by the venetian model. during the reformation, many of these carnival customs began to die out in protestant regions, although they seem to have survived in catholic areas despite the opposition of the ecclesiastical authorities. so by the 19th century, the carnivals of the relatively wealthy bourgeois town communities, with elaborate masques and costumes, existed side by side with the ragged and essentially folkloric customs of the rural areas. although these civic masquerades and their masks may have retained elements drawn