MOSSI SCULPTURE
June - July, 1998

Mossi, Headdresses © Tim Hamill

MOSSI SCULPTURE
JUNE 4 - AUGUST 1, 1998

The "Mossi Sculpture" exhibition shows the wonderfully varied work of the blacksmith-sculptors of the Mossi people of Burkina Faso. Figures are relatively naturalistic but uncommon; small one were often originally part of masks. The exhibit has several, including one of exceptional size and three post figures; all commemorated ancestors, have scarification patterns indicating rank and were symbols of office.

Masks were more plentiful and of three distinctive types. Worn in ritual ceremonies several times a year, they aided communication with the spirits. Those from Ouagadougu are small cap masks (see poster) depicting animals and birds, worm with long fiber costumes. From the Yatenga region are tall plank masks, with concave faces and superstructures, honoring clan ancestors. Risian masks, Karanga, are similar to some Dogon masks, with convex faces and shorter, curving plank tops.

Additionally, the exhibit has biiaga, the doll-like figures girls carry, with their stylized gyonfo, or hairdos. Four unusual abstract headdresses, two massive, abstract doors and a group of of elegant bronze heads complete the show.

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