Folk Horror MagpieDec 18, 2022
I’ve been very lucky to have spent the past three weeks travelling in beautiful Sri Lanka, home to ancient and elaborate mask traditions. Each incarnation has its associated festivals and dance performances, some to connote divine grace, others to provoke fear.
Show threadFolk Horror MagpieDec 18, 2022

There are three categories of masks, those used in rural dance dramas for mocking stories of colonial life (kolam), sanni demon masks for exorcisms and healing, and raksha masks used in processions and ceremonies.

The demons invoked are protective and the masks apotropaic, which means that they are displayed and worn to ward off evil. The most vibrant include complex designs with bulging eyes and leering tongues, each character having a specific ritualistic purpose.

Show threadFolk Horror MagpieDec 18, 2022
Video is of a sanni-yakuma demon-casting ritual dance I watched at Kandyan Cultural Arts Centre. The endurance of the performer was astonishing, the exertion required just mesmering. The rhythmic thumping is engaged to force the demon to leave the body of the patient and rid them of their physical or psychological sickness.
Show threadFolk Horror MagpieDec 18, 2022
Similar mask made from the Sri Lankan kadura (nux vomica) tree and painted using ancient natural colouring methods, at a wood carving workshop in Getambe. These remaining artisans in the traditional technique seek a mental connection with the character representative of each mask that they carve, requiring a much wider historical and spiritual education than simply the skills of the trade.
Show threadFolk Horror Magpie

And here's the little guy who came home with me, hopefully casting out any demons of seasonal colds I'm due from landing in -5 degrees London after leaving my jumper in Colombo airport.

#folkhorror #folkhorrormapgie #srilanka #srilankanfestival #festival #sinhalese #sinhalesefolklore #tamilfolklore #raksha #mask #folkmask #kolam #sanni #kandy #galle #negombo #colombo #ella

Dec 18, 2022 at 8:28amWeb