Red mask

Wilson Ngony draws the real Africa. The way he sees it. The people he meets. The stories he hears. The boy in this painting is a bushman––in Botswana they’re called basawra––and is wearing a red mask made from local herbs with a bit of red ochre. The bushmen get this red ochre from hematite stone, while they get yellow ochre from limonite (another stone that can be found in South Africa).

For millenia, the bushmen used these paints to make petroglyphs; their stone art is some of the most tremendous ancient art and can be found in modern-day Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola, Botswana, South Africa and Namibia. The boy’s mask is worn during a midnight ritual which is done so that the upcoming hunting season will be successful. His hands hold a fan: simultaneously a fashion piece, a toy, and defense against the scorching hot desert sun.

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