Figure

Chi wara, antelope figure on a fibre headdress. The headdress is decorated with cowrie shells, an often used fertility symbol. The Antelope is the emblem of the Bambara gruop. There are bird feathers on the top of the horns. This figure depicts a buck. The buck has curved horns, while the hind has straight. The pattern on the figure represents the fur and the perforated pattern symbolizes man. The dancer wears the headdress on the head and a fibre costume covering the whole body. The ceremonial chi wara dance is conveyed at all important occasions, e. g. when asking the gods for rain or fruitful fields, before hunting, at funerals and initiation rites. the dances are performed in pairs, i.e. by a buck and a hind, it is the young men who are dancing. Height: 64 + 90 cm, Width: 24 cm. Origin: Segou (?) Mali, Ethnic group: Bambara (exhibition, Horisonter - röster från ett globalt Afrika)