D'mba Mask
Carved by the Baga peoples near Guinea this mask represents a strong mature woman. This piece can be very large requiring a strong man to dance it at a masquerade. Some D'mba masks reach seven feet tall.
[1]“One of the masquerades suppressed by Muslim leaders and the Guinean government was the famous d'mba (or nimba) of the Baga. D'mba had been a monumental image of a strong, mature woman. During masquerades her enormous wooden head towered over the celebrants. Her flattened breasts identified her as the ideal mother, who had suckled many children and tied them to her back." When this mask was brought out to dance, women who touched it were supposed to be blessed with healthy babies.
One can see that the older woman is worshiped for her time birthing and caring for children. Many times older women are considered very wise. In this mask one can see the elaborate scarification and coiffure as well as the abstracted features including the elongated neck and almond shaped eyes.
[1] Monica Blackmun Visona et al., A History of Art in Africa (New Jersey: Pearson Education, 2008), 179.
[1]“One of the masquerades suppressed by Muslim leaders and the Guinean government was the famous d'mba (or nimba) of the Baga. D'mba had been a monumental image of a strong, mature woman. During masquerades her enormous wooden head towered over the celebrants. Her flattened breasts identified her as the ideal mother, who had suckled many children and tied them to her back." When this mask was brought out to dance, women who touched it were supposed to be blessed with healthy babies.
One can see that the older woman is worshiped for her time birthing and caring for children. Many times older women are considered very wise. In this mask one can see the elaborate scarification and coiffure as well as the abstracted features including the elongated neck and almond shaped eyes.
[1] Monica Blackmun Visona et al., A History of Art in Africa (New Jersey: Pearson Education, 2008), 179.
Bogolan Mudcloth
Created by the Bamana peoples of Mali this Bogolan Mudcloth could be used during a female's passage into womanhood. Girls in some communities had to get circumcised in order to become a woman. Female circumcision happens less than it used to be but it is still occurring in small cultures. When a girl was of age she would undergo surgery and once it was over her mother would wrap her in a cloth like this to protect her from dangerous nyama (evil mystical spirits). Sometimes girls would get sick after and even die after this procedure so it was believed that wrapping her tight in a cloth like this was said to protect the woman from nyama and keep her healthy. After the now woman had recovered she would give the cloth to an elder female that she knew. This elder would then be buried in the cloth when she died.
Here one could see that woman are close knit and respected greatly. There are many things that girls learn and have to do before they become a woman and this varies from culture to culture. But once a girl becomes a woman she is "marketable" she is able to get married and bear children.
Here one could see that woman are close knit and respected greatly. There are many things that girls learn and have to do before they become a woman and this varies from culture to culture. But once a girl becomes a woman she is "marketable" she is able to get married and bear children.