Bird headdress "a-bämp" ·  Guinea, Baga · ID: 3041336

Description

wood, remains of formerly colourful painting, openwork design, two birds, one behind the other, reminding of pelicans, superstructure in shape of double comb, small traces of insect caused damage, abrasion of paint, partly repainted (black colour);
bird-shaped headdresses, called “a-bämp” (=“bird”) or “koni”, are worn by young men and boys. They appear during the rice planting and harvesting ceremonies. Given its natural faculty of flight, it is associated throughout the area with transcendence and with supernatural abilities.

Comparing literature

Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Encyclopedia of African Art and Culture, Munich 2009, p. 54 Lamp, Frederick, Art of the Baga, New York 1996, p. 110 f.