N'imba Shoulder Mask

These masks are known as D’mba or Nimba, and represent an idealized concept of female fertility. Indeed, the connection between the D’mba or Nimba mask and fertility are apparent in the image itself; that of a stately woman who has given birth and raised children; her long breasts attesting to her years as a mother and child-rearer.

The notion of fertility however extends to the very earth; some have seen this mask as the Baga concept of an ‘Earth Goddess’ though this is overstated. In any case, the mask presides over all agricultural festivals.

D’mba represents not only the fecundity of the fields but the fertility of the women of the village as well. As such, the mask dances at all major rituals and festivities of village life as well as agrarian rites, in order to bring symbolic increase.

Masks of this type are worn over the heads and shoulders of the dancer with a long fiber and cloth costume, completely obscuring the wearer who carries the sometimes 60 pound mask on his shoulders, running with a large retinue behind him.

The raised coif may have a secondary meaning in referencing rows of planted crops in the fields. The scarification on the face and chest imitate long outdated scarification patterns on Baga women, and further reference female fertility.

The mask also has a role in the Simo society in promoting fertility in a more direct manner, namely for women having difficulty conceiving.

The unusual shape and form, and the necessity of utilizing Western cloth of blue or black, may imply that this mask was actually developed relatively late in Baga cultural history and was heavily influenced more by the peoples of the areas the Baga came to inhabit after their migrations to the current region.