Dating: 2nd half the 20^th  century

Signature: MŻo / A / 3542

Description:

Bobo-Bwa people masks are mainly made of wood, fibres and fabrics. The masks are traditionally manufactured before the rainy season three years before their use. The presented helmet of the Bobo-Bwa people (Ule), used by the secret society of masks, worn by blacksmiths, is classified as a secondary mask, similarly to the ox mask. The Bobo secret society is related to Wango (wrongly attributed to Mossi).

Guennguez believes that the Kurumba people of the north of Burkina Faso are part of the Bobo ethnic group (inhabiting the southwest of Burkina Faso), as they have a large antelope mask that resembles the masks of Bobo and Tellem Dogon, the first Negroid peoples in the area.

The purchase of the masks collection was subsidized by the National Institute for Museums and Public Collections.

Literature:

Delange Jacqueline, 1967, Arts et peuples de l’Afrique noire, Paris: Éditions Gallimard.
Guennguez André, Afo, bd., Art. de la Côte-D’Ivoire et de ses voisins, Paris: L’Harmattan.
Leuzinger Elsy, 1961, Africa Nera, Milano: Il Saggiatore.