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The most important carving used in initiation ceremonies was the lipiko (or mapiko) mask, which was worn over the top of the head, tilted back so the wearer could look out through the mouth. The masks sometimes represent ancestral spirits, sometimes animals. The ancestors come back masked in order to express their joy at the successful achievement of initiation. Their presence is proof of the tight bonds that exist between the living and the dead. The Makonde masks may attain great expressiveness. Some are simple in form, with static concave planes; others display an organically sensed rounded style. The naturalism is exaggerated in many masks, with their full lips and receding cranium. The faces of the masks are often scarified. The Makonde have two main types of masks: helmet crests, known as lipiko, and face masks. The anthropomorphic face masks portray particular individuals or occasionally represent sickness. Design elements frequently include scarification marks, and eyebrows, lashes and coiffure made of real hair affixed with wax. The helmet masks have strong, Negroid features. Male masks have beards, female ones lip-plugs and – a travesty of the male dancer – body masks in which two breasts are depicted in the middle of the wax tattoos. The body masks celebrate the return of young men to the village after they have been initiated into adult life. The men who wear them cover their faces with a mask of a feminine face. They represent pregnant women. The feminine mask dances with great composure while a masculine mask dramatizes the pains of childbirth. An orchestra of drummers accompanies the dances. Certain masks must inspire terror in the women, who may only view their apparition with their upper body bent over and their head facing down towards the ground. Animal masks are provided with long ears and horns, and dancers in ape masks turn acrobatic somersaults.
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