Boli
Musee Du Quai Branly, Paris
(Peoples)Bamana,
mali
The Boli used by the Bamana of Mali was used within power associations or secret societies. These secret societies took place in Kono shrines made up of men. Women were not allowed to participate. This object was made of wood encrusted with spiritually charged materials. The three dimensional object that appears to be animal like is formed of dark layers of material laden with Nyama. It’s the size of a small child and mimics the shape of an animal. A hallow channel from the mouth to the anus allows fluids to be poured through it.[1] The Boli is activated with the libations of blood, seamen, fingernails and other bodily fluids.
[1]Monica Blackmun Visona, Robin Poynor , and Herbert m. Cole, A History Of Art In Africa, Second Edition, (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education Inc, 2008), 120.
The Boli used by the Bamana of Mali was used within power associations or secret societies. These secret societies took place in Kono shrines made up of men. Women were not allowed to participate. This object was made of wood encrusted with spiritually charged materials. The three dimensional object that appears to be animal like is formed of dark layers of material laden with Nyama. It’s the size of a small child and mimics the shape of an animal. A hallow channel from the mouth to the anus allows fluids to be poured through it.[1] The Boli is activated with the libations of blood, seamen, fingernails and other bodily fluids.
[1]Monica Blackmun Visona, Robin Poynor , and Herbert m. Cole, A History Of Art In Africa, Second Edition, (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education Inc, 2008), 120.
Komo Kun
Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington
The Komo Kun headdress is used to empower a masquerader with the ability to perceive evil and destroy it. Some have described it as a mobile Boli. Like the Boli Women are barred from these ceremonies. The Komo Kun is made to appear like an animal but is not intended to be one but, rather a secret. This object is caked with grayish dark substance with horns of antelopes lashed to the wooden substructure, and bundles of grasses, leaves, skulls, bones, and parts of animals may also be embedded in the thick surface. [1]
[1] Monica Blackmun Visona, Robin Poynor , and Herbert m. Cole, A History Of Art In Africa, Second Edition, (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education Inc, 2008), 121.