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Three masked performers, one wearing male horizontal Chi wara headdress, the other two wearing double-headed horizontal Chi wara headdresses, each referred to as n'gonzon koun, Bamako (national district), Mali

Catalog Data

Photographer:
Elisofon, Eliot  Search this
Collection Photographer:
Elisofon, Eliot  Search this
Extent:
1 Negatives (photographic) (b&w, 35mm.)
Culture:
Bamana (African people)  Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Negatives (photographic)
Black-and-white negatives
Negatives
Place:
Africa
Mali
Date:
1970
Scope and Contents:
"The especially complex, tiered horizontal headdress is exceptional for its expression of pentup corporeal power. It gives compelling evidence that horizontal headdress were not modeled on a single animal found in nature but rather represent an abstract force expressed through an amalgam of zoomorphic features. Here the animal in the lower half, which appears to be an aardvark, is more fully realized than in others because of the inclusion of its head. It is possible this work was commissioned by a voluntary communal labor association known as gonzon. Gonzon owned headdresses called n'gonzon koun, or 'anteater head,' which were sculpturally identical to those used by the ci wara association of the same community. They were not danced in the field, however, as were ci wara headdresses, but rather in the village on occasions when the gonzon performed charitable farmwork." [La Gamma A., 2002: Genesis: Ideas of Origin in African Sculpture. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Yale University Press, New Haven and London]. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon traveled to Africa from March 17, 1970 to July 17, 1970.
Local Numbers:
EENG-III-6, 20A.
General:
Title source: Index card based on photographer's notes.
Local Note:
Typed index card reads, "E 1 Bmb. Bambara. Mali, near Bamako. Dancers with Chi wara antelope headdresses. 7/1970. EE. neg.no. III-6, 20A." The card was written in 1977-79 by Archives staff using source provided by photographer.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Topic:
Rites and ceremonies -- Africa  Search this
Masquerades  Search this
Masks  Search this
Headdresses -- headgear -- Africa  Search this
Animals in art  Search this
Animals in art -- Aardvark  Search this
Animals in art -- antelopes  Search this
Animals in art -- Composite animals  Search this
Wood-carving  Search this
Dance  Search this
Cultural landscapes  Search this
Genre/Form:
Black-and-white negatives
Negatives
Collection Citation:
Eliot Elisofon Field Collection, EEPA 1973-001, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution
Identifier:
EEPA.1973-001, Item EEPA EENG 01607
See more items in:
Eliot Elisofon Field collection
Eliot Elisofon Field collection / Mali
Archival Repository:
Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/xo76dc1d02c-227c-4722-8799-4a98061fcc85
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-eepa-1973-001-ref28695