Helmet mask "nahua"

Description

hide/ leather, painted in green and red, animal bristles, mirror glass,
This style of “tigre”(colloquial for “jaguar”) masks are used on the feast day of the Holy Cross on May 3rd, 4th, and 5th. As part of the activities, men from different “barrios” put on jaguar costumes and carry out fierce fighting competitions that involve beating each other over the head with knotted ropes. The leather masks are worn over the head to protect the wearer from injury.

Although this is very rugged for the participants, the fighting is considered a crucial aspect in petitioning the deities for rain during the spring planting season (offerings of pain).

These extremely expressive Mexican masks also exerted a strong influence on Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988), an artist of Afro-American origin. The graffiti artist and painter had photographs taken with these masks and used them as a source of inspiration for many of his paintings.