The Magic of the Mask

A highly personal journey to reveal the hidden magic of the mask of the remarkable Bolon maskers and mask-makers in a remote corner of Burkina Faso, West Africa

Photographer and African art collector Michel de Combes travelled extensively in West Africa over a period of fifteen years from the late 1980s, researching and documenting Bolon masks. He journeyed alone, staying in remote villages for up to five months of the year, capturing the masks and mask-making on film. His drive to understand the magic of the mask has resulted in this unique project; an unsurpassed collection of photographs of masks from one of the most remote areas of Africa. Together, the book and DVD present images never before published, giving a remarkable insight into a secret world of ritual performance.