Original Boruca Native ButterflyMask Earpiece - CR

The highlight of the festival is the 'Danza del los Diablitos' or 'the dance of the little devils', which is performed in remembrance of the Borucans' fierce resistance to colonization. The truer name of the festival should be the 'Festival of the Ancestral Spirits'. When the Spaniards arrived with advanced weapons, the Borucans only had animal spirits, such as the jaguar, to guide them. In homage to the spirits that aided them, today's intricate masks are carved and painted to represent these spirits, fierce animals, devils, and also images of the local flora and fauna of their country. 

The masks start out with a log of either balsa wood or cedar. After removing any bark, the log is cut a bit longer than the final length of the completed mask. This log is then cut vertically to produce two half round pieces, and the interior is hollowed out with a chisel and mallet. Next, the rounded front of the mask is hand sanded to a smooth surface and the design is sketched onto the wood. The artists now begin to remove the negative background area, slowly creating a high relief three dimensional face. For the fine details, exacto-type knives are used to whittle away the unwanted wood. Cedar is very hard and difficult to carve; therefore the masks made from this type of wood are not quite as detailed. Conversely, balsa wood is very soft, and these are the masks where the artists can really achieve the many nuances of facial expression. The majority of masks are all of one primary piece of wood, the only glued-on additions are for the very small birds and their beaks, which are constructed with small pieces of inserted wood.