Bamana Masks, Mali

BAMANA KONO MASKS, Mali

Komo Society Headdress

Mali, Bamana (Bambara)

20th century

Feathers, quills, horns, and encrustation.

Height: 23 in. (58 cm)

Gift of William W. Brill. 89.15.15

Typical of the Mande association masks, the sacrificial material seen in the encrustation on the surfaces of this headdress (also known as a helmet mask) is an indication of its connection with one of the three main Bamana power societies: Komo, Kono and Nama. This specific headdress is typical of the Komo society, which functions as the custodian of tradition and is concerned with all aspects of community life-agriculture, judicial processes, and passage rites. The Bamana, an ethnolinguistic group of the upper Niger region of Mali, are distinguished by their indigenous method of writing and a remarkable system of metaphysics and cosmology, encompassing associated societies, prayers, myths, and rituals. The Komo is a secret power association of priests, knowledgeable elders, and blacksmiths that forms the central Bamana social institution. Members of the blacksmith clan are born into the Komo society because of their ability to employ the forbidden power of fire to transform matter from one form into another. Its masks and headdresses are of elongated animal form decorated with actual antelope horns, porcupine quills, bird skulls, and other objects as vessels of power. Blacksmiths of the Komo society wear the society headdress or komo-kun during a dance to invoke nyama, the force that activates the universe.Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art · Cornell University

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Bamana: the art of existence in Mali - exhibition preview - various artists, African art, Museum for African Art, New York and Museum Rietberg, Zurich

African Arts, Winter, 2001 by Jean-Paul Colleyn, Laurie Ann Farrell

The Sacred and the Secret

Bamana jow have a tremendous importance in social and religious life. The exhibitions in both New York and Zurich explore the role of these initiation societies (some authors have called them brotherhoods) through a wide range of objects used in their rituals, including wooden masks, iron staffs, and power altars. In jow like Komo, Kono, Nama, and Ci-wara, among others, one gains access to secret knowledge by traveling and working for a reputed master (soma). Some villages may not have even a single jo, while in many others several societies may coexist and compete with one another.

Although jow are considered men's organizations, (4) in numerous cases women may make offerings to and even seek help from one of the jo deities. Furthermore, each jo has one female official who may perform important ritual functions, though she is not supposed to know the society's secrets. Bamana rely on their jow for social interaction and as a means to address such problems as sickness, misfortune, and mystical aggression. While these societies are influential in political and judicial matters, today most of their power is overshadowed by state institutions and Islam.

The Jo Society

The Jo (a specific society, not to be confused with the generic name for these organizations) has become a sort of framework for other initiation societies, like Ci-wara, Namakoro, and Nya. Until a few decades ago, initiation was obligatory for every young male. (5) As with the Kore, 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 songs they 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."

Among the sculptures in the exhibitions are those called Jomooni (small person of the Jo) and Jonyeleni (small, beautiful young lady of the Jo). Representing beautiful young women, they often display decorative motifs on the face and body that were fashionable as scarifications before 1930 (Figs. 13, 14), and some are dressed and decorated with jewelry. Numerous washings and applications of oil have imparted a lustrous black color to some of these sculptures. This section also exhibits crest masks and musical instruments used during Jo rituals.

[FIGURE 13-14 OMITTED]

The Ntomo and Kore Societies

Ntomo and Kore societies exist throughout the Niger Valley. (6) Initially Ntomo, which leads to Kore, was a society for uncircumcised boys. Today it closely resembles various Western associations in its bureaucratic structure and its administrative and membership fees. The exhibitions feature Ntomo masks whose thin mouths underscore the virtue of silence and the importance of controlling one's speech (Figs. 15, 16, 17). In general, during their time in Ntomo the boys learn to accept discipline. They do not yet have access to the secret knowledge related to Kore and other initiation societies.

[FIGURE 15-17 OMITTED]

Bamana people perceive Kore 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 Kore 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 koredugaw. (7)

Until the 1940s, initiates practiced a form of ritual dueling with whips. Today, however, the rituals are less severe. Furthermore, while many original types of Kore masks have been phased out and distinctions between ritual groups made less evident, initiates traditionally belonged to a several different groups, each having its own masks (Figs. 18, 19). In their general form and detail, a group of Kore masks in the two exhibitions conveys concepts such as knowledge, courage, and energy through the representation of hyenas, lions, and other animals.

[FIGURE 18-19 OMITTED]

The Komo and Kono Societies

Komo and Kono are other secret societies that can be found in Bamana regions. These jow form political networks that transcend the limits of the village. Their masks and boliw are said to symbolize an association, or marriage, with the supernatural entity. (8) In contrast to Komo masks, which are covered with feathers, horns, and teeth (Figs. 21, 22), those of the Kono society are elegant and simple (Figs. 23, 24).

[FIGURES 21-24 NOMITTED]

Komo sanctuaries have spread throughout present-day Mali as well as Guinea, southern Mauritania, eastern Senegal, western Burkina Faso, and northern Cote d'Ivoire. Their style strongly reflects the influence of Arab mosques, palaces, and other types of Sudanese architecture. Traditionally led by blacksmiths, each sanctuary once exerted significant political influence, using the voice of a masked dancer to communicate messages to villagers. Again, Kono and Komo masks and boliw figures on view in both exhibitions are contextualized by video footage and photographs.

The Ci-wara Society

Ci-wara is a society related to agricultural fertility. Its performance, which incorporates the characteristic antelope headcrests and other sculpture, is based on the Bamana respect for the union of male and female. Just as human reproduction is the result of the sexual union between man and woman, so agricultural fertility is attributed to the union between the sun, an expression of the male principle, and earth and water, an expression of the female principle (Brink 1981:25). Through farming, the man manipulates the sun and brings "him" to inseminate the earth. According to Dominique Zahan, "This union is the model for the association between the man and wife and for their reproduction" (1960:34). A large ensemble of Ci-wara figures in the exhibitions, presented with video footage and field photographs, illustrates the creative range of their Bamana makers in representing antelopes, anteaters, chameleons, pangolins, and hybrid zoomorphic creatures (Figs. 25, 26, 27).

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.

This object, called a boli (pl. boliw), once played a central role in the ritual life of a Bamana village. Such power

objects are owned by male initiation associations whose members progress through induction processes that

span decades. Over time, they attain esoteric knowledge that leads to a greater understanding of the natural and

spiritual worlds. Opaque and mysterious to the uninitiated eye, boliw are safely handled only by those association

members equipped with the most rarified skills and expertise.

The primary function of a boli is to accumulate and control the naturally occurring life force called nyama for the

spiritual benefit of the community. Used as altars or carried during dance performances, they are complex

creations created from esoteric recipes, or daliluw. Animal bones, vegetable matter, honey, and metal are packed

around an interior armature of bamboo wrapped in white cotton cloth. They are covered with layers of mud and

clay, and their surfaces accumulate sacrificial materials over time, including chicken and goat blood, chewed kola

nuts, alcohol, and millet porridge. Each added layer of material lends the structure greater spiritual power.

Boliw and their numerous ingredients have been interpreted in a number of different ways. It has been suggested,

for instance, that the disparate elements of which boliw are composed symbolize the various parts of the universe,

so that the whole can be read as a model of Bamana cosmological belief. It has also been noted that the boliw's

sacrificial coatings are strikingly similar to the undigested contents of human stomachs, while the interiors of the

boliw are made of materials generally associated with the body's exterior. For this reason, they have sometimes

been interpreted as portrayals of animals and people turned inside out. While this example takes a vaguely

bovine form, others are more representative of recognizable subjects, including human figures.his object, called a boli (pl. boliw), once played a central role in the ritual life of a Bamana village. Such power