Baule Goli Mask
The goli is a round-faced, painted mask of the Baule people of the Ivory Coast, worn with a full costume during village celebrations, funerals, and the dances of the goli society. The word names a whole sequence of masks that appear in a fixed order, from the round kpan faces through animal forms to the large, frightening figured masks, a progression that retraces the Baule cosmos and the order of communal life. Male and female variants dance in pairs, and the female face, with its calm forehead and scarified temples, is regarded as the model of Baule beauty. The dance is closely tied to the g