Tribal Art

The African animal masks of Burkina Faso
This imposing helmet mask forms a variant of the African Newenka mask of the Bobo Fing, also borrowing features from the kellé mask. This type of mask was worn exclusively by members of the blacksmith caste, during mourning ceremonies, to accompany the deceased to their ultimate residence, the volta. The top has a crest whose flat and openwork structure is surmounted by bird beaks. The decoration is made up of triangles whose polychromy is extinguished. Beautiful semi-satin patina of use, desication cracks and abrasions.
A Mandingo people, most of whom live in eastern Burkina Faso, but also in southern Mali, the culture of the Bobo Fing is similar to that of the Bambara. In each village altars are erected under the authority of the blacksmiths, priests of the cult of Dwo, but the Bobo also venerate secondary spirits and those of the ancestors. In addition to objects carved from wood, they also make masks out of fiber sheets which they will wear during ceremonies in order to establish a relationship with the spiritual world. The most important of the wooden masks are the sacred altar-masks (molo and nwenke), the accompanying masks (nyanga) and those for entertainment (Bole, sing. bolo).