In Bobo communities, bolo masks are used during communal gatherings that mark major social and ritual occasions, including funerals, male initiation ceremonies, harvest celebrations, and public entertainments. Their designs combine human and animal features into hybrid forms and are traditionally worn by male dancers during masquerade performances. This ram mask still preserves faint traces of blue, red, and white pigment, showing that it was once brightly painted. Across parts of sub-Saharan Africa, the ram has been associated with masculine aggression and force, giving the animal particular symbolic importance within these performances.