Mithila masks, made from papier-mâché, clay and wood and then painted in the dense line and colour of Madhubani, are the faces of the region’s ritual theatre. They turn performers into gods, demons and folk-heroes — the cast of the Salhesh legend, the players of Ramleela, the figures of village processions — and double as vivid wall-art in their own right.
The mask-makers of Madhubani have carried the craft into the contemporary art market, but its roots lie in performance: in the moment when a painted face, lit by lamps, lets a dancer become a deity. It is Mithila painting lifted off the wall and given a body.