Calao

It is the primordial bird of the Senufo, protector par excellence and sacred bird of the society of the pore. The identification of the bird is doubtful. It is called "calo" as this bird is one of the five primordial animals of the senufo cosmogony, but it could also be a pelican. The Senufo They call it indistinctly by the name "Ségèn, Sedjen or Setien". He is also known as "Kasingele" or first ancestor and has a direct relationship with the mythological founder of the human race or the ancestor founder of the sacred forest. This name alternates with that of "Porpianong" which literally means "Mother of the Pore Child".

This statue is kept in the sacred forest and intervenes in the rites of admission of the initiates to the final phase of their formation, which corresponds to the second phase of initiation of the pore. The initiates carry it over the head, when it is a figure of small dimensions. It is the first symbol of the head of the pore, underlining the authority of the elder. He has been the bearer of the first seed on earth. He can go and fetch water in the clouds and bring it to earth, thus saving men and crops. It is the reason why it becomes a protective figure and nutrition.

The open wings of the calao are a symbol of protection, its bellow belly of motherhood and its beak is a phallic image. It is the symbol, par excellence, of the senufo people. It is associated with the notion of procreation. It is also the symbol of the word and divinity. It announces the time of sowing. As this date approaches, it is heard singing, but it sings and flies, normally, from the west to the east. The Muslims, who are the majority in this area, associate this flight with the Mecca pilgrimage.

Sudanese legends say that the calao is deaf mute and represents the village chief and therefore has a divine character since the chief is also a symbol of God. The world is the people of God and, by this logic, the head of the village is at the same time the head of the world.

The deaf muteness of the calao and the village chief indicate the silence that God observes, sometimes, with those who turn to Him.

The statues representing the calao can range from a few centimeters to more than two meters and have the most diverse forms. They often appear as a finish on the top of Kpelié masks.

This gigantic cove, which was owned for more than half a century by the Senegalese antiquarian Marema Diop, participated in the First Universal Exhibition of Black Arts at the demand of the then president of Senegal Léopold Sédar Shengor.