TITLE: Guro Zamble
TYPE: mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Côte d’Ivoire
ETHNICITY: Guro
DESCRIPTION: Zamble Mask
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Celebration; Entertainment; Funeral
AGE: ca. 1960s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint
The Guro zamble mask represents a mythical animal resembling a cross between an antelope and crocodile. It forms part of the trio of sacred masks with the gu and zaouli. In the past, gu was the wife of zamble, but in modern rituals she is represented as the wife of his brother, zaouli. All three masks are cult objects to which sacrifices are periodically made to bring prosperity to the family that owns them and to drive away evil spirits. They are danced for celebrations and as entertainment, and also at funerals and to honor ancestors.
For more on Guro masking traditions, see Eberhard Fischer, Guro (Prestel, 2008).
