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Senufo Kponyugo

TITLE: Senufo Kponyugo
TYPE: crest mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
ETHNICITY: Senufo
DESCRIPTION: Kponyugo Mask
CATALOG #: AFCI026
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Funeral; Protection/Purification; Secret Society; Social Control
AGE: 1960s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: n/a

The Senufo people and reside primarily in Côte d’Ivoire, with some also living in Burkina Faso and Mali. Among their many masking traditions is the kponyugo, or firespitter mask. Its literal meaning is “head of one who died,” and it is used primarily by the Poro secret society at funerals, to drive away evil spirits and punish human malefactors. The mask combines attributes of multiple fierce animals, such as the hyena and warthog (both dominant here), crocodile, ram, and antelope. Women and children are counseld not to look at the kponyugo due to its ferocity.

This mask was acquired by a generous gift from an anonymous donor.

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Senufo Kpelie

TITLE: Senufo Kpelie
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
ETHNICITY: Senufo
DESCRIPTION: Kpelie Mask
CATALOG ID: AFCI015
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Adult Initiation; Agriculture; Celebration; Funeral
AGE: ca. 1990s
MAIN MATERIAL: ebony wood
OTHER MATERIALS: n/a

The Senufo people and reside primarily in Côte d’Ivoire, with some also living in Burkina Faso and Mali. The kpelie mask is used by men’s societies for the initiation of boys into adulthood, in funerals of important villagers, and in harvest festivals celebrating and giving thanks to the gods for a bountiful harvest.

The kpelie is always worn by men, but it combines the features of an ideal woman and an animal, such as an antelope, ram, or hornbill (as here), along with fertility symbols, such as palm nuts. The scarification marks represent the Senufo ideal of female beauty. The two appendages that always extend downward from the mask represent symbolic legs that tether the spirit to the earth.  The figure on the head, whether it is an animal, ancestor, or symbol, depend on the caste group to which ancestor represented by the mask belonged. The hornbill, for example, is linked to metal smiths.

The masquerader will dance to traditional music and singing while holding an iron staff or a horsetail whisk and wearing a robe composed of knotted diamonds (the shape believed symbolic of the cycle of life) and a long raffia fiber collar and cuffs to disguise the hands.

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Djimini Do Society Mask

TITLE: Djimini Do Society Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
ETHNICITY: Senufo (Djimini)
DESCRIPTION: Triple-Faced Mask
CATALOG ID: AFCI004
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Celebration; Funeral
AGE: ca. 1990s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: n/a

The Djimini people are a subgroup of the much larger Senufo people and reside primarily in Côte d’Ivoire, with some also living in Burkina Faso and Mali. The Do Society dances masks of various kinds, frequently employing animal elements, at the funerals of important members of the village and on major Islamic holidays.

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