Grebo

Traditional masks

The Grebo ethnic group is located on the coast of Liberia, west of the Cavally River. Like the Bété who are related to them, they escape the Poro association which governs all the political and religious life of most of West Africa.

The traditional Grebo artistic corpus is made up of masks embodying the spirits of the invisible world residing in the forest. Sculpted by high-ranking initiates, these African masks appeared during rituals reserved for initiates and during festivals where the entire population could see them.

One type of mask is characterized by a massive face surmounted by two buffalo horns, as in the Bété war mask.

The second type of tribal mask represents the feminine ideal, the slits of the eyes and the softness of the expression bring it closer to the deangle mask of the Dan.

The third type of mask, more abstract and flat, is made up of a board with tubular eyes. Some are divided into several horizontal spaces, marked at the level of the eyebrow arches and the upper lip.

Anecdotally, we also know of them statues, spoons, command sticks and game boards.