Bamana marionettes, a couple of Merekoun puppets

Bamana marionettes, a couple of Merekoun puppets of male and female character, surmounted on wooden staffs, the oval heads with flat fascial planes, open mouths, elongated nose, framed by circular iron eyes and u-shaped, hollowed, circular ears, the female marionette with an elaborated, coiffure, with two pigtailr; brownish, aged patina, partly shiny, signs of age and use, encrustration by many layers of sacrifications.

800 – 1.000,- Euro

Height: 56 cm / 58 cm
Weight: 1,2k g / 1,4 kg

Sogo Bo ceremony oct. 2011 in a village, 125 km from Segou, a three days tour by donkey car or by a Jeep, which will be marked by steel-brushes after a 9 hours tour, nothing for a new 4×4 or 4×4, which are rented.

“Sogo bò, a puppet masquerade drama, pereformed today in many Bamana communities within the Ségou region in south central Mali is organized under the auspices if the kamalen ton, the village youth association. It is defined by the community as nyènajè, entertainment and tulon, play. The Sogo bò masquerade has a regional identity rather bthan being associated with a single ethnic group.Sogo bò did not originate with the Bamana, but with the Bozo fishermen. By the late nineteenth century, however, Bamana within Ségou began to adopt the masqueradetheater and throughout the last century itflourished in these farming communities.”

Arnoldi, Mary Jo The puppet theatre in the Segou region in Mali, Ph. D. dissertation, Indiana University 1983; 64, Playing with Time: Art and Performance in Central Mali, Bloomington, Indiana, Indiana University Press, 1995,

Arnoldi, Mary Jo The puppet theatre in the Segou region in Mali, Ph. D. dissertation, Indiana University 1983; 64, Playing with Time: Art and Performance in Central Mali, Bloomington.