"Today we took a trip with the school to the Horniman Museum. We saw a BWA plank mask. It had lots of different patterns. We saw a lion made of plaster. I liked the skeleton in the chair best (Midnight Robber). I liked the mask it was fantastic. I found the mummy quite interesting. I saw the mummy's box and the mummy as well. I saw a really long mask. We saw a TV and if you pressed a red button on the TV I saw a mud hut."
Raglan Primary School pupil

Year 2 children visited the African Worlds Exhibition at the Horniman Museum on the morning of Monday, 2nd October, 2000.

The session began with Viv (from the Horniman Museum Education Department) talking to the children about their key object, the Bwa plank mask.

The Bwa people live in central Burkina Faso. Their religious laws are shown on the great plank masks with which they perform in the villages several times each year. The masks embody the spirits of the wilderness, which intervene with the forces of nature to provide health and well being to the community. (read more background information).

The markings on the masks are symbols and have a number of different meanings. These were discussed with the children (read about them in the background information) before they were given worksheets and asked to write down their reactions to the plank masks - 'they make me feel ....':

Happy, heavy, funny, surprised, important, funny, excited, yo-yo, tall, amazed, tired, strong

Sola encouraged the children to also write acrostic poems about the plank masks.

Beautiful masks, a beautiful exhibition!
When is the bwa mask allowed to be worn?
At a certain time of the year, a special occasion

Bawling masks
Witches like owls
Ancestor crosses

Beak of a magical bird
Wiggly lines to remember the people who have died in the family
Ancestors thinking the masks are strong

The children then looked at the rest of the African Worlds exhibition, picked out and drew another favourite mask and found symbols or patterns on many different items.

Left: Kenyan sheild

Finally the children regrouped around their key object to read some of their poems and show some of their drawings to the class.

Music in the musem
Unity means linked together
Snakes, sliming, slithering sausages!
Elephants eating eggs!
United, we feel happy
Magical museum

Big masks on the wall
Where do you come from
Africa?

Massive masks
African
Scars
King's crowns