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TRIBAL AFRICAN ART
GREBO
Liberia
"Grebo"
means "leaping monkey people," a reference to their flight from a former
homeland near the Sahara. Their major economic activity is producing palm oil and palm
kernels for export. The culture of the Grebo, a little-known ethnic group inhabiting the
coastal region of eastern Liberia and the bordering forestlands, was shaped in a
considerable degree by their neighbors to the north, the Kran and Dan. Unlike the other
people living in Liberia, the Grebo are not structured by the Poro society. They are ruled
by a chief known as bodio who lives in near total
isolation and also assumed the function of grand priest.
The Grebo
sculpt several types of masks. One type is characterized by a massive face surmounted by
two buffalo horns. The second type of masks represents the female ideal with slit eyes and
sweetness of expression. The third type are male war masks, more abstract and flat, formed
by a board with elongated nose and one or more pairs of tubular eyes. The masks appeared
during rituals reserved for initiates and at the time of festive occasions, when the whole
population was able to see them. The war masks designed primarily to terrify appeared
during battles, in the dances beforehand, and at the funerals of warriors.
Figures
are rare. Their style is closely related to Dan, We and other neighboring tribes.
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