Mask - Côte d’Ivoire

In Côte d’Ivoire, the Gouro people are settled on the banks of the Bandama. Belonging to the Southern Mandé group, they are close to the Baoulé, with whom they share many similarities. It was in 1906 that the colonists changed their name from “Kwéni” to “Gouro,” a designation that would remain thereafter.

Their masquerades are close to those of the Goli of the Baoulé. Thus, the Zaouli dance of the Gouro is animist and its masks are linked to the nature spirits. Among them: two zoomorphic masks (Zaouli and Zamblé) and one anthropomorphic (Gu). The latter belong to the family that conducts the ancestor cults of lineages. Moreover, the Gouro also produce the masks gu, gye and dye, which appear during funerals or enthronements.