Africa Gabonese wood mask, "Fang Forest Spirit"

Arched eyebrows frame the canny eyes of a spirit of the forest. Long and narrow, the serene visage appears in black, red and ivory. "One of the fundamental religious beliefs shared by Fang people was that of the necessity to protect and nurture the spirit of the dead, believed to dwell in the forest," says artisan Nana Adu Amankwapam I. "Anytime a ritual is to be performed in the forest to seek the views of the ancestors, this mask is worn."