Mask

The Bobo (sometimes called the Bobo Fing) are based in the present-day West African nation of Burkina Faso and neighboring Mali to the North. Authority is non-centralized within Bobo society, with decisions made by a council of male elders. The Bobo are religiously animist and they worship a deity called Wuro, creator of the world. He made the first man, who was a smith, on whom was bestowed the first mask. Smiths therefore continue to create masks for the Bobo and are often cult priests. There are many types of masks in Bobo society. This mask consists of a long trapezoidal face with square eye holes and a long ridge of raised triangles down its center. Atop this is an intricate superstructure. Both Bobo and neighboring Dogon peoples utilize masks with elaborate wooden superstructures rising above the mask’s face. Comparative images of a contemporary festival held in Sikasso, Mali, in which very similar masks were performed, indicate that carved figures enacting a genre scene may have been affixed to the center of the superstructure. Bobo masks are often painted in the traditional colors of red, black, and white, but more recently, yellow, green, and blue have been used. This example features silver paint as a base with yellow, red, and black decoration. As is most common with many Bobo masks, colors are applied in triangular patterns. At the beginning of each performance season, the Bobo repaint their masks.