MOUSTAPHA with androgynous Ntomo Bambara 5-horned tribal initiation mask from Mali. This mask, created for the tourist trade, was purchased in Paris in 1964 from a student street vendor from Mali.

The Ntomo society is for uncircumcised children and plays the role of school and sex education in the bush. Masks participate in all their rituals. Their major feature is the number of horns on the head which indicate the sex of the mask. The mask is male (3 and 6 horns), female (4 and 8 horns) or androgynous (2, 5, 7 horns). After circumcision, there is no typical course – rather it depends on the personality of the child, the family, or the organization of local cults.

Learn More: Bamana Mask