Masks representing harmful spirits were often used to keep a required balance of power. This type of mask was often associated with secret societies, especially in Africa, which has the greatest variety of masks on Earth.

In ancient Egypt priests used masks to represent gods. Masks were also placed upon the face of mummies to keep alive the appearance of the

In western and central Africa all animistic tribes used masks, whereas in the east and south only a few tribes did so.

· In Mali the ammata mask symbolized the means by which the mythological hero descended to earth.

· The Kom inhabit the grasslands in the northwestern province of Cameroon. Their masks are large and heavy and often worn on top of the head, rather than on the face. Masks in Cameroon are a tool of the regulatory societies that assure social control and law enforcement in the community. These societies, known as "Kwifoyn" have secret membership open only to men. It is a privilege for a Kwifoyn member to be accorded the right to own a mask. One of their uses is to dance on the grave of the member, as a parting fraternal gesture of honour, or to celebrate the death of any adult male. In 1986, Lake Nyos in that region of Cameroon, erupted with a deadly cloud of gas that killed more than 1,700 people in surrounding villages, as well as cattle and every other living creature in the area. National Geographic photographers filmed the dance for the dead at a massive memorial service for the victims, in which dancers wore masks such as those in the collection

· The Kuba are a cluster of ethnic groups inhabiting central Zaire, having migrated from the north in the 16th century. Masks are used to reenact the myth of creation. The mask depicted is a royal

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