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TRIBAL AFRICAN ART
Mali
The
Bambara numbering 2,500.000 million form the largest ethnic group within Mali. The
triangle of the Bambara region, divided in two parts by the Niger River, constitutes the
greater part of the western and southern Mali of today. The dry savanna permits no more
than a subsistence economy, and the soil produces, with some difficulty, corn, millet,
sorghum, rice, and beans. Their traditions include six male societies, each with its own
type of mask. Initiation for men lasts for seven years and ends with their symbolic death
and their rebirth. Nearly every Bambara man had to pass through these societies in
succession, until, upon reaching the highest rank, he had acquired a comprehensive
knowledge of ancestral traditions.
The jo
society has become a sort of framework for other initiation society. Until a few decades
ago, initiation was obligatory for every young man. Jo initiations take place every
seven years, after candidates receive six years of special training. During this time, the
young men go through a ritual death and live one week in the bush before returning to the
village. There they publicly perform the dances and songsthey have learned in the bush,
and receive small presents from spectators. After a ritual bath that signals the end of
their animal life, the new initiates become “Jo children.”
Initially
the ntomo was a society for uncircumcised boys. Today it closely resembles various
Western associations in its bureaucratic structure and its administrative and membership
fees. There are two main style groups of their masks. One is characterized by an oval face
with four to ten horns in a row on top like a comb, often covered with cowries or dried
red berries. The other type has a ridged nose, a protruding mouth, a superstructure of
vertical horns, in the middle of which or in front of which is a standing figure or an
animal. The ntomo masks with thin mouths underscore the virtue of silence and the
importance of controlling one’s speech. During their time in ntomo the boys
learn to accept discipline. They do not yet have access to the secret knowledge related to
korè and other initiation societies.
The korè
society is perceived by the Bambara people as the “father of the rain and
thunder.” Every seven years a new age-set of teenagers experiences a symbolic death
and rebirth into the korè society through initiation rituals whose symbols relate
to fire and masculinity. Initiations take place in the sacred wood, where the youths are
harassed by elders and the clown-like performers called korédugaw. In their
general form and detail, a group of korè masks conveys concepts such as knowledge,
courage, and energy through the representation of hyenas, lions, monkeys, antelopes, and
horses. In addition there are masks of the nama, which protect against sorcerers.
The komo
is the custodian of tradition and is concerned with all aspects of community life --
agriculture, judicial processes, and passage rites. Its masks are of elongated animal form
decorated with actual horns of antelope, quills of porcupine, bird skulls, and other
objects. Their headdress, worn horizontally, consists of an animal, covered with mud, with
open jaw; often horns and feathers are attached. Masks of the kono, which enforces
civic morality, are also elongated and encrusted with sacrificial material. The kono
masks were also used in agricultural rituals, mostly to petition for a good harvest. They
usually represent an animal head with long open snout and long ears standing in a V from
the head, often covered with mud. In contrast to komo masks, which are covered with
feathers, horns and teeth, those of the kono society are elegant and simple.
The tji
wara society members use a headdress representing, in the form of an
antelope, the mythical being who taught men how to farm. The word tji means
“work” and wara means “animal,” thus “working
animal.” There are antelopes with vertical or horizontal direction of the horns. In
the past the purpose of the tji wara association was to
encourage cooperation among all members of the community to ensure a successful crop. In
recent time, however, the Bambara concept of tji wara has
become associated with the notion of good farmer, and the tji wara
masqueraders are regarded as a farming beast. The Bambara sponsor farming contests where
the tji wara masqueraders perform. Always performing
together in a male and female pair, the coupling of the antelope masqueraders speaks of
fertility and agricultural abundance. According to one interpretation, the male antelope
represents the sun and the female the earth. The antelope imagery of the carved headdress
was inspired by a Bambara myth that recounts the story of a mythical beast (half antelope
and half human) who introduced agriculture to the Bambara people. The dance performed by
the masqueraders mimes the movements of the antelope. Antelope headdress in the vertical
style, found in eastern Bambara territory, have a pair of upright horns. The male
antelopes are decorated with a mane consisting of rows of openwork zigzag patterns and
gracefully curved horns, while the female antelope supports baby antelopes on their back
and have straight horns. The dancers appeared holding two sticks in their hands, their
leaps imitating the jumps of the antelopes. From the artistic point of view the tji
wara are probably the finest examples of stylized African art, for with a delicate
play of line the sensitive carvings display the natural beauty of the living antelope.
In
traditional African societies, a childless marriage is a grave problem. Further,
childlessness seems to be the wife’s problem to resolve. Women with fertility and
childbearing problems in Bambara society affiliate with gwan, an association that
is especially concerned with such problems. Women who avail themselves of its
ministrations and who succeed in bearing children make extra sacrifices to gwan,
dedicate their children to it, and name them after the sculptures associated with the
association. Gwan sculptures occur in groups and are normally enshrined. An
ensemble includes a mother-and-child figure, the father, and several other male and female
figures. They are considered to be extremely beautiful. They illustrate ideals of physical
beauty and ideals of character and action. The figures are brought out of the shrine to
appear in annual public ceremonies. At such times, the figures are washed and oiled and
then dressed in loincloths, head ties, and beads, all of which are contributed by the
women of the village. The size of the statues may vary from 12 inches to 4 feet. The
figures are usually with a dignified air. Some have the arms separated from the body, flat
palms facing forward, the hands sometimes attached to the thighs. They may have crest-like
hairdos with several braids falling on their breasts. In the same style, representations
of musicians and of lance-carrying warriors are found. There are also carvings with Janus
head. Ancestor figures of the Bambara clearly derive from the same artistic tradition, as
do many of those of the Dogon. Rectangular intersection of flat planes is a stylistic
feature common to Bambara and Dogon sculpture.
There are
also reliquary figures in form of a woman, having an oval cavity below the breasts,
marionette figures, and others.
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