Walking stick - Wood - Galoa mask

Funerary Mask Okukwe - Galoa / Galwa - Gabon
The Galoa (or Galwas) are a Gabonese ethnic group settled downstream of Lambaréné along the lower course of the Ogooué. They are part of the Myènè group.

Their masks are not very diverse, generally round, painted in black, red and white in opposite quarters. This mode of facial painting is also found among the neighboring Aduma.

The most famous masks of the Galoa are those belonging to the Okukwé society. These, flat and oval, feature a clearly identifiable painted design with a pattern of opposite triangles on the forehead and chin; half-closed eyes, a straight nose, and perfect symmetry in their construction. This society carried a judicial character, the mirror on the mask’s forehead could be interpreted as a third eye capable of spotting troublemakers.

According to Louis Perrois (in Art ancestral du Gabon), the dance of the mask in a village carried a certain significance since it brought to light the misdeeds of some and others!