On 25 November 2005, UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Program inscribed Malawi’s Gule Wamkulu cultural dance on the list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity which aims at safeguarding intangible cultural heritage and the diversity of cultural expressions. Gule Wamkulu (the big/great dance) is a name for the masked/masquerade dance created and performed by members of the Nyau brotherhood; a secretive ethnic Chewa society extending throughout the central and southern regions of Malawi and contiguous areas of Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Zambia; for purposes of initiating members into adulthood and for entertainment. The society has retained one of Africa’s greatest masking traditions whose material culture involves dancers wearing elaborate masks and costumes representing human or animal motifs, and dancing energetically to high-tempo rhythmic African drums and songs with each dancer choreographed according to their talents/symbolisms. While Gule Wamkulu performances remain popular in Malawi and beyond, the tradition’s mask-making craft is being eroded by modernity, among other adversities. Largely crafted from floral and faunal remains (wood, skins, feathers, straw), the masks are increasingly being replaced by factory-made artificial/synthetic (rubber and plastic) replicas. Thus, the process of making authentic Gule Wamkulu masks and related paraphernalia; a tradition shrouded in secrecy and mastered by a few aging Nyau experts which intricately involves the usage of various materials, tools, categories/types, and meanings; is rapidly fading.

Much has been documented about the Gule Wamkulu dance genres and types of dancers. However very little exists on the material culture and craft (indigenous knowledge systems) behind the making of the actual dance masks. This project therefore seeks to ethnographically and digitally document this mask-making craft, with the help of the Chewa community’s Nyau/Gule Wamkulu custodians/practitioners in Malawi for posterity.

The project specifically seeks to document:

  1. The floral and faunal materials and tools used in crafting the masks
  2. The processes, expertise (skills), and stages involved in making the masks
  3. The categories and types of traditional Gule Wamkulu
  4. The meanings and symbolism of the masks

Principal Investigator:
Anusa Daimon

Collaborators:
Hendrina Kachapila-Mazizwa and Ganizani Dyson

Location of Research: 
Zomba and Dedza, Malawi

Host Institution:
University of Malawi

Top Banner Image: Courtesy of Fr. Brendan O’Shea M. Afr., Kungoni Centre of Culture and Art, Malawi.