In Benin, the main homeland of Animism religion, Zangbeto is the traditional mask who has the role of security guard of the community.
People said nobody is inside the mask, made by a mass of threads of hay and other thread-like materials, colored with many gaudy colors.
Here a Zangeto moving around the entry of Ganviè city, the Venice of Africa, a town built on a lake surface, here the post where I show it: Ganviè lacustre city.
Zangbeto is believied also to have magical abilities.
For sure, it is a way to make order in the community, as a form of police to control bad and correct unsafe actions, and it works very well to guarantee order in social life.
There are some festival where many Zangbeto dance, they really believe nobody moves the mask, but it is an ancient spirit to make it turns around and dances.
We met it inside a chaotic market:
Around him, curios people: they adore it and respect Zangbeto. They are also a bit scared of his ability.
On the right of Zangbeto, a man is like a guide follows the mask...
... and another man are listening to spirit will:
After a bit of negotiation, we reached to make the guardian posing for us. He his very proud of his important role:
Stay tuned with dancing Zangbeto festival, I will prepare a special post about it in future.
Pictures taken with Sony Alpha 7iii and Nikon D800.
Benin, 16.10.2022
