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Zemanek-Münster

Mask "nwenka" ·  Burkina Faso, Bobo · ID: 3050451

Starting price EUR 300
Estimated price EUR 500
Provenance
Gernan Private Collection, Munich
Size
H: 106 cm
H: 41.7 inch

Description

wood, pigments, cord, remains of mass, collection no. “M 062”

“Nwenka” embodies the spirit of “dwo”, the son of the creator god “wuro”. Viewed as one of the most sacred of all Bobo masks (second only to the “molo"mask), “nwenka” is used exclusively by blacksmiths in cults centred around “dwo’s” spirit (the “kwele dwo”, “dwosa”, and “sibe dwo” cults).


Comparing literature

Roy, Christopher, Art of the Upper Volta Rivers, Paris 1987, p. 328 ff.


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