LOS ANGELES, CA.- More than one hundred makishi, or mask characters, figure in the remarkable masquerade traditions of a constellation of ethnic groups living in the ‘Three Corners’ region of Zambia, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Among the Chokwe, Mbunda, Lunda, Luvale/Lwena, and Luchazi peoples, makishi, which embody ancestral spirits, may assume human, animal, hybrid, or abstract appearances. Twenty-four wooden masks drawn from the Fowler’s collections are the focus of Makishi: Mask Characters of Zambia—on display at the Fowler Museum at UCLA through April 29, 2007—an intimate exhibition that explores these masks and the drama and complexity of the masquerades in which they are used. (courtesy www.Artdaily.org)