Makonde Lipiko Mask
The lipiko is the carved wooden mask of the Makonde people of northern Mozambique, worn by male dancers in the mapiko, a masked dance that forms part of the likumbi initiation rite marking the passage from puberty to adulthood. The mapiko performance, which UNESCO inscribed on its List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding in 2023 under the name Ingoma ya Mapiko, takes place in an open enclosure, often beneath mango trees, with dancers, drummers and a choir of men and women facing each other. The dancer's whole body is covered by the costume, and the mask, carved from