Mask in primitive culture and its reflections on modern art today

The mask has been seen since ancient communities as a form that covers the face and gives the person it wears a new self or a second character. This self-perception, which is constantly changing, has undergone changes and transformation with the change of life conditions in which it is experienced. Since it is a tool aimed at giving a message to the opposite person from the moment it appears, this form, which also has an important place in the sense of communication, has unfortunately turned into a form of communication that people often use in social life today. In this study, it was aimed to show how this form, which serves the desires of being visible and different, turns into a form of self-expression with changing conditions. In the first part of the research, the definition of general mask, historical process, types and purposes of use were mentioned. In terms of supporting African mask art, this form, which gives tininess to primitive tribes, is explained by their beliefs and various meanings that they impose on supernatural forces. In the second part of the study, the use of masks in theatrical art, the Commedia dell'arte of the Renaissance period and the examples of their use in the Elizabethan period, how they affected Modern theatrical art and the carnivals that are still ongoing today, especially the mask formations in Venetian carnivals, are noted. In the last part of the dissertation, the effects of modern Art on the field of painting and sculpture were supported by studies that served the desires of various tinsel masks that appeared in Africa to be visible and different. Keywords: Primitive Period, Mask, Ritual, Theater, Modern Art