The Festival International des Masques et des Arts (International Festival of Masks and the Arts), or FESTIMA, is a cultural

festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

celebrating

traditional African masks Traditional African masks are worn in ceremonies and rituals across West, Central, and Southern Africa. They are used in events such as harvest celebrations, funerals, rites of passage, weddings and coronations. Some societies also use masks to ...

held in

Dédougou Dédougou is a city located in western Burkina Faso. It is the capital city of Mouhoun Province and Boucle du Mouhoun Region. The main ethnic groups are the Marka and the Bwa. The population of Dédougou was 37,793 in 2006; 18,778 were male and ...

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

. (in French) Founded to help preserve traditional cultural practices in the modern age, FESTIMA features masks and traditions from several

West African West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ma ...

countries. It is currently held biennially in even-numbered years. The most recent edition, the fifteenth, was held from February 29 to March 7, 2020, in Bankuy. (in French) (in French) (in French)

History

In 1996, a group of Burkinabé students founded ASAMA, the Association for the Protection of Masks, in order to promote and preserve traditional mask practices. One of the concerns is that traditional masks are no longer a regular part of life for many. The masks' origins are religious in nature, historically being associated with

animism Animism (from meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in ...

. Animism and other traditional beliefs are minority religions in modern Burkina Faso, with estimates indicating they are practiced by between 7.8 Estimate is from 2010. and 15 percent Estimate is from 2006. (in French) of the population. The majority religion in the country is

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, which does not use the masks in their ceremonies. However, members of ASAMA believe that traditional masks can still be important culturally even to those for whom they are not important religiously. According to Ki Leonce, executive director of ASAMA, "There are two aspects about masks. One is cult and the other is culture; there might be a religious conflict for people who venerate masks, but there is no conflict from the cultural point." The original FESTIMA, held in 1996, was four days long, and the event has since expanded to seven days. The thirteenth edition of the festival was held from February 27 to March 5, 2016, and featured masks from over 50 communities from six

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

n countries: Burkina Faso,

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

, and

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

. (in French) ASAMA estimated 100,000 people attended the event, including more than 2,000 international tourists. The fourteenth edition was held from February 24 to March 3, 2018. (in French)

Events

The primary events of FESTIMA are the performances, where mask wearers dance, accompanied by musicians playing

hand drums A hand drum is any type of drum that is typically played with the bare hand rather than a stick, mallet, hammer, or other type of beater. Types The following descriptions allude to traditional versions of the drums. Modern synthetic versions are ...

whistle A whistle is a musical instrument which produces sound from a stream of gas, most commonly air. It is a type of Fipple, fipple flute, and may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a s ...

s, and

balafon The balafon (pronounced , or, by analogy with ''xylophone'' etc., ) is a gourd-resonated xylophone, a type of struck idiophone. It is closely associated with the neighbouring Mandé peoples, Mandé, Bwaba Bobo people, Bobo, Senufo people, Seno ...

s. Sometimes, a translator is present to interpret the meaning of the dance. Some of the ethnic groups whose traditions are represented are the Bwaba, Marka, and Yoruba. FESTIMA also includes seminars on historical and cultural topics, storytelling competitions, educational events for children, and a marketplace.

References

External links

* {{usurped,
Official site
} (in French) Masks in Africa Cultural festivals in Burkina Faso Arts in Burkina Faso 1996 establishments in Burkina Faso Culture of Burkina Faso Culture of Togo Culture of Benin Culture of Senegal Culture of Ivory Coast Culture of Mali Traditional African religions