Marionnette à tête janus "merekun" · Mali, Bamana / Marka / Bozo · ID: 3050115
Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 18 April 1973, Lot 189
Description
wood, metal sheet, base
For stylistically very similar puppets, possibly of the same workshop, see AHDRC 0077040, 0077060 and 0077025.
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.
The puppets and masks depict animals, fantastic creatures, and characters from village life - the farmer, the soldier, the mother, and so forth. Through the movements of the puppets and the songs that accompany them, the youth association is able to comment on the social and political life of the community.
Littérature comparée
Colleyn, Jean Paul (Hg.), Bamana, Zürich 2001, p. 77 f. Dagan, Esther A., Emotions in Motion, Canada 1990, p. 137
Publications
AHDRC: 0077080