African Face Painting Essay Sample free essay sample

His face is covered in rich. dark aglow tones. of natural minerals dug from the Earth. The designs are luxuriant and painted with utmost item. demoing his contact characteristics. Sunglassess of xanthous environment his zygomatic bones go forthing his eyes bare. full of power and maleness. The festival has begun and he must turn out to her that he entirely is the most beautiful and capture her with his vigorous moves. Like many other folks of Africa the Wodaabe folk uses face painting to pull beauty. African face picture has been a thing of wonder to many in the western civilisation. Many folks in Africa practiced face picture for grounds of festivals. rites and position symbols and for other events. Face picture is frequently seen in tribal festivals. The Wodaabe folk of Niger use face pigment in their celebrated festival of beauty known as the Gererwol Festival ( African 1 ) . In this festival the work forces apply magnetic colourss of gold and rich colourss of ruddy on their face and dance to win the Black Marias of the environing adult females. Like James wood said â€Å"the adult females do the judgment and honor the victors with a dark of love† ( wood 1 ) . This festival is a similar beauty pageant in the West but the work forces are the contestants and they paint their face alternatively of seting on mascara. The Gerewol festival is where work forces and adult females go to happen their partner. In this festival a adult male can come with his married woman and leave with a different 1 merely as a adult female can come with her hubby and take a new one ( wood 1 ) . Wodaabe work forces go to the festival looking for a new married woman and knowing that theirs married womans might non be theirs any longer so they dance to score the adult females around them. In the Wodaabe civilization. beautiful eyes and white dentitions are found attractive by adult females so the work forces paint their lips black to do their dentitions brighter. They besides paint their zygomatic bones and olfactory organs with colourss like yel low and ruddy to pull attending to their eyes and their facial bone construction. This festival is all about showing beauty through dances and about work forces demoing off their expressions and the work forces of the folk usage pigment to demo beauty utilizing diverse colourss. In some ancient Tribal faiths face painting along with masks is used during rites. In the article titled â€Å"cultural face painting† . it states that. â€Å"ancient rites frequently summon dieties. liquors of ascendants and animals† ( Sevcenko 1 ) . During these Rituals either a mask or a face pigment of wild and bizarre designs are applied which implies that the wearer was possessed by the liquors or anima1s ( Sevenko1 ) . Besides the Podo folk of South Africa celebrates a tradition called umgidi. This rite is where a adult female is initiated to go diviner or a priestess of the folk ( African 1 ) . She appears bare to the waist with her organic structure painted with white clay and embellished with foliages. These forms are complex and they symbolize the nexus to her ascendants who are believed to be the grounds for her unwellness and well-being. The Xhosa folk besides in South Africa uses face painting during the rite of manhood called the Abakwetha. To get down wi th. the immature work forces paint their faces with white clay. so they are circumcised and their face is painted with ruddy clay to mean the preparedness for grownup male duties ( African 1 ) . In each of these rites the art of face painting holds different significance and typify different phases of a ritual. Face picture is besides used to typify different positions. Like for Example the Karo folk of Africa have three types of designs painted on their faces. One type was for the folk head. The Chief’s facial pigment is more luxuriant and orderly so everyone else’s. Almost his whole full face is covered in white pigment but his jaw line. his cheek castanetss. and his olfactory organ were left bare demoing his dark and smooth tegument in two perfect consecutive lines ( Erick 1 ) . The other design is for a warrior the design is like the heads but a batch less orderly ( Erick1 ) . The last type of design is for the regular common man which consists of apparent white pigment. Face and organic structure picture was highly of import and symbolic to tribes like the Karo because it showed who they were and where they belonged. African folks besides use face picture for other events. The Sumra folk of Ethiopia usage face and organic structure painting during their wild and violent stick contending competition called the donga. Unlike the Gerwol festival. this no dance or beauty festival. it is but a competition of nervus and beastly strength that is meant to settle personal Vendettas and to win married womans. During this competition 100s of work forces come to a specific topographic point to contend with 15 pess sticks refereed by the head ( Donga 1 ) . The battle done in heats and is done in unit of ammunitions until there is merely two staying. The victor of the last unit of ammunition wins the whole thing. Any adult male can dispute hover he wants and decease is non uncommon. The lone regulation is no adult male can hit another adult male when he is down ( Donga 1 ) . The rivals fight to be the greatest warriors and to win so that they can give a miss the award if being their day of the month or married woman if she wishes ( Donga 1 ) . When the work forces fight they are wholly bare except for pigment that covers them from caput to toe. The buildings of the organic structure pigment have a batch of lines and are wholly done by manus. The designs painted on the man’s organic structure stand for his maleness and is meant to strike fright into his opponent’s bosom. The picture is an of import portion of the competition and because the more bewitching and terrorizing it is the more attending and fear the contestant will acquire from his oppositions and the crowd. With his last attempt he gives the adult females his most seductive expression and he dances in a more bewitching mode. The dance is done and he stands in the Sun with the bright ruddy and xanthous pigment looking as though the Sun was radiating from him. The adult female he has been eyeing through the whole festival comes and they leave into the sundown. With the aid of his beautiful pigment on his face his end has been forward filled and he leaves with a married woman. African folks apply face pigment at festivals. during rites. to typify position and for other grounds and events. The art is harmonic and beautiful and it connects all the folk of the huge continent.