Handmade Wood Mask with Glass Beads, "Smiling Nature"

This irresistible smiling mask is crafted by the artisans of the Kamsá Biyá Community in the southern Colombian Andes. In keeping with their cultural and spiritual traditions, they use such masks in ceremonies where they ingest ayahuasca, a native plant with medicinal and psychoactive properties. Artisans carve the mask by hand from basket willow wood, covering one side with tiny black and gold glass beads in elaborate patterns. The Kamsá or Kamëntsá are an indigenous people living in the Sibundoy Valley.