Origin: Senufo (Ivory Coast, Republic of Mali, Burkina Faso)

Local name: kpelle, kpelye (tgw language)

Dating: second half of the 20^th century

Dimensions:

MŻo/A/3565: height 39.5 cm, width 19.0 cm, depth 12.0 cm

MŻo/A/3566: height 35.5 cm, width 14.0 cm, depth 9.0 cm

Material: wood

Techniques: carving

Acquired by: MŻo/A/3565-3566: Jacek Łapott, village, around Korhogo (Ivory Coast), 2001.

Description:

The Senuf are an agricultural people inhabiting West Africa, their number is estimated at 4.5 million people. Most of them live in the north of Ivory Coast (2,188,000 people), where their unofficial capital Korhogo was located in the 13^th century. The term Senufo refers to a linguistic group of about thirty related dialects within the larger family of Gur languages [Gagliardi 1963]. Today, a large part of the Senufo still profess traditional religion, although the spreading of universalist religions is visible, especially Islam, which has a destructive impact on traditional Senufo art.

The Senuf are known primarily as excellent craftsmen - their art is one of the best recognized in Africa. Robert Goldwater, director of the Museum of Primitive Art in New York, says that Senufo art is typical African art. His interest in Senufo art led him to organize an exhibition of Senufo Sculpture from West Africa at his museum in 1963. R. Goldwater recognized the term Senufo as the name of a cultural and ethnic group rooted in a mythical past. However, this term began to appear already at the end of the 19^th century, when the French penetrating this area began to use it. In the early twentieth century, art collectors, dealers, connoisseurs, and scholars in the West, as they sought ways to classify and understand the African art that increasingly attracted their attention, began to refer to all African art as Senufo [Goldwater 1959]. Later, with the development of knowledge, it was noticed that many artistic styles can be distinguished in Africa.

The Senufo, like all African peoples, treat art as an important element of their beliefs. “Works of art are used as a form of expression during rites of passage like initiations or funerals. (…) In addition to the spirit of the bush and the image of the python, another popular theme in Senufo's figural representations is the chameleon. It crowns the bulging helmets of many Poro association masks. Chameleons are painted on fila shirts (cloth painted with mud), trousers, skirts and tunics, and the inner walls of temples; …” [Glaze 2008: 140, 146].

The most interesting works are presented by artists from the vicinity of Korhogo, inhabited by the Tyembara group. According to some researchers, this is where the sculptural center of the Senuf is located [Trojan 1973: 166], but it can be added that not only sculptural, but also artistic fabric. In the antiquarian market, as well as in literature, there is a term "Korhogo style" referring to fabrics and paintings made on traditional fabrics. The most recognizable Senuf masks are different types of kpele dance masks (tgw - senufo tagwana).

The presented kpele face masks do not have decorations made of raffia fibers, which helped the dancer to hide his face and gave the dance expression. The masks were probably purchased from the sculptor before the fibers were applied, which indicates that they were not used during religious ceremonies. Nevertheless, they were made with all care and attention to detail, just as masks used for ritual purposes are made.

Bibliography:

Gagliardi Susan Elizabeth, 1963, Senufo Sculpture from West Africa: An Influential Exhibition at The Museum of Primitive Art, "Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History", New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/smpa/hd_smpa.htm (originally published January 2010, last revised March 2016).

Glaze Anita, 2008, Ornamentation and decorative art of the Senufo people, in: Cymorek Małgorzata (ed.) Aesthetics of Africa. Anthology, Krakow: Society of Authors and Publishers of Scientific Papers UNIWERSITAS.

Goldwater Robert, 1959, Sculpture from Three African Tribes: Senufo, Baga, Dogon. New York: Museum of Primitive Art.

Trojan Alina, 1973, The Art of Black Africa, Warsaw: Common Knowledge.

Edited by Lucjan Buchalik

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The purchase is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport as part of the National Institute of Museums and Collections' own program "Expansion of museum collections".