Mexican mask-folk art

Mexican mask-folk art refers to the making and use of masks for various traditional dances and ceremony in Mexico. Evidence of mask making in the country extends for thousands of years and was a well-established part of ritual life in Mexico when the Spanish arrived. In the early colonial period, evangelists took advantage of native customs of dance and mask to teach the Catholic faith although later, colonial authorities tried to ban both unsuccessfully. After Independence, mask and dance traditions showed a syncretism and mask traditions have continued to evolve into new forms, depicting Mexico’s history and newer forms of popular culture such as lucha libre. Most traditional masks are made of wood, with others made from leather, wax, cardboard, aper mache]] and other materials. Common depictions in masks include Europeans (Spanish, French, hacienda owners, etc.), Afro-Mexicans, old men and women, animals, and the fantastic/supernatural, especially demons/the Devil.

The use of masks and costumes was an important part of Mesoamerican cultures for long before the arrival of the Spanish. Evidence of masks made with bone thousands of years old have been found at Tequixquiac, State of Mexico. These masks had various uses but always in connection to ceremony and ritual especially in theatrical dance and processions. Masks were used by high priests to incarnate deities.Jaguar and eagle warriors dressed themselves like these animals in order to gain their strengths. Funeral masks were reserved to the burials of the very elite, such as that of King Pakal and were works of art, made of jade, shell, obsidian, hematite and other precious materials of the time. Masks used in theatrical performances and dances varies widely from the various animals of the Mesoamerican world, to those of old men and women generally for comedic relief to those designed to make fun of neighboring ethnic groups. Some of the ancient masks made of stone or fired clay have survived to the present. However, most were made of degradable materials such as wood, amate paper, cloth and feathers. Knowledge of these types comes from codices, depictions on sculptures and the writings of the conquering Spanish. Indications also exist with the survival of a number of dances from the pre- Hispanic period such as Tecuanes, Tigres and Tlacololeros.

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