waecE-LEARNING
Visual Art Paper 1, Nov/Dec. 2012  
Questions: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Main
General Comments
Strength
Weakness/Remedies
Question 5

 (a)       Define Mask.
(b)        Describe any type of West African mask.
(c)        Explain mask as an art form in West Africa.

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observation

This question  attracted majority of the candidates and most of these candidates responded appropriately to it. However, a few candidates could not give the required responses and this made them to lose most of the available marks. Such candidates should have responded to the question thus:
(a)        A covering for the face, worn by somebody to conceal his or her identity.

(b)       -           face mask:                   the kind of masks that covers only the face

          -           helmet mask:               the type of mask that covers the entire head.

-            headdress:                   a type of mask usually attached to the head and
                                                                        covering part of the face.
                                               
-           pendant mask:             worn by King as symbol of authority as pendant
                                                            resting on the chest.

 

(c)        -           belief in the supernatural has motivated the creation and sustenance of
                                    many West African traditional masks.
-           these beliefs incorporate some elements of magic, animism and religion.
-           rituals involving the use of masks are done to exert control over the uncertainties of life.
-           with rituals, West Africans aimed at harnessing positive forces from ancestors and gods.
-           masks were meant to serve as a means of communication between the world of man and the supernatural.
-           masks are worn during festivals, celebrations and ceremonies, whose purpose are to cleanse, honour, entertain, initiate, bless, etc.
-           masks are worn to disguise the identity of the wearer.
-           most masks in Africa are carved in wood and decorated with paints, beads, cloth, raffia, etc.
-           by itself, a mask is considered ineffective until it is imbued with powerful spiritual force and worn by someone in full costume and danced with the accompaniment of music and drum.

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