Click to open image viewer. Helmet masks called sowei or ndoli jowei among the Mende, Sherbro and Vai and zogbe among the Gola of Sierra Leone and Liberia are women’s masquerades performed by members ...

This exhibition focuses on one spectacular work in the Cantor’s collection—a sowei mask, used by the women-only Sande Society that is unique to Sierra Leone. Used in dance by senior women of the ...

Click to open image viewer. Sowei masks are danced by members of the Sande women's society in Sierra Leone. All Mende girls join this society at puberty. Sowei appears in public during the time when ...