WHAT IS A RITUAL?

Talk with your neighbors about this. Come up with a definition or some examples.

Ritual
A ceremonial act or action. An action repeated in a precise manner.

Purim

Purim is a Jewish holiday. Masks are worn as part of the celebration.

Purim

Iroquois: False Face Society

The False Face Society is a medicinal society they perform healing rituals, many

of which involve masks.

False Face Society

Fasching

Fasching is a German preLenten celebration. Their wood masks have a long history. In medieval times, the lower-classes wore masks to blend in with the upper-class.

Fasching

Halloween

Variations of Halloween are celebrated around the world, but many countries are influenced by American Halloween traditions.

Halloween

Halloween

Carnival and Mardi Gras

Carnival is celebrated in Catholic areas all over the world, from Africa to Russia. In North America, its called Mardi Gras. Carnival is very popular in Italy and in Brazil.

Carnival

Carnival

It's a time when Brazilians turn to "fantasias," as Carnival disguises are called, to express whatever they've kept bottled up: humor, criticism, fantasies, admiration, aspirations. After all, who doesn't

want to be someone else for a

day?

Egyptian Funerary Masks

In ancient Egypt, an important part of mummification was the burial mask. The mask was not supposed to look like the dead person, but a perfect version of themselves. These masks included many symbols.

Funerary Mask of Tutankhamun

African Masks

Many tribes and cultural groups in West Africa have been known to make masks for celebrations, marriages, funerals, etc. These masks vary based on the function and on the cultural group.

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is also known as the Spring Festival and comes at the turn of the Chinese calendar. The Lion Dance is often performed at this time.

Lucha Libre

Lucha Libre means free wrestling and a form of professional wrestling in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries. The masks began as a way to distinguish wrestlers from one another, but now are used to symbolize an identity the wrestler takes on.

Key Words

Symbol: Something that stands for something else. An image used instead of a word.

Key Words

Appropriation

Taking something for one's own use, without the owner's permission.
The beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a group, place, or time. The adoption of some parts of one culture by a different culture. This can sometimes be negative when the larger culture takes things from the smaller culture.

Culture

Cultural Appropriation

What are some rituals that we are a part of?

Birthdays Snow Days St. Patricks Day Christmas Easter Thanksgiving Valentines Day Halloween Family reunions Parents anniversary 4th of july New years Dr. seuss MLK Day Last day of school 1st day of school Karen new year Groundhog day

What are symbols that we could use to represent those rituals?

Your Task
Students will look at masks made by cultures and artists across time. They will choose a ritual from their own life and will create a mask about that ritual.

Concept and Effort

1 The mask does not represent any ritual. Student did not create symbols or decoration that represented a ritual.

3 The mask represents a ritual, but student did not have clear ideas on how to represent that ritual with symbols or decoration.

5 The mask clearly represents a ritual. The student put thought into symbols or decoration that represented the ritual.