Female puppet "merekun"
Ludwig Schmidt, Munich, Germany
German Private Collection, Munich
Description
wood, pigment, paint, metal, base
The figure consists of two parts. The rod-shaped body is fixed to the separately modelled lower body by means of nails and metal clamp. Holes can be seen on either side of the breasts where the movable arms were attached.
Oral tradition holds that the puppet theater originated among the Bozo, descendants of the Soninke rulers of the medieval Ghana Empire and perhaps the original inhabitants of the area.
“Sogo bò” is closely linked to youth societies and is subject to the patronage of “kamalen ton”, a society of boys coming from one village community.
For the puppet performances a small mobile stage is covered with cloths or grasses concealing the men inside. Puppets with movable heads and limbs poke out from the top and are made to twirl and dance.
Comparing literature
Colleyn, Jean Paul (Hg.), Bamana, Zürich 2001, p. 77 f. Dagan, Esther A., Emotions in Motion, Canada 1990, p. 137Publications
Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Afrikanische Kunst in Deutschen Privatsammlungen, München 1973, p. 46, ill. 44AHDRC: 0077068