Facial Mask Faligulo
Bambara · Mali
Reference: MFAZ-53
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- Height
- 41 cm
- Material
- Wood and pigments.
“Koré” is the spirit of the waters. Its brotherhood pursues two objectives: 1.- Return to the human being its original harmony overshadowed by circumcision. 2.- Allow…
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Full original description
“Koré” is the spirit of the waters. Its brotherhood pursues two objectives:
1.- Return to the human being its original harmony overshadowed by circumcision.
2.- Allow the human being to recover, on the spiritual plane, his primitive femininity, his mystical union with God and the triumph over death.
Koré activates the moral and intellectual formation of being. No one can claim any other initiation after having participated in the “Koré” rituals. The great festival of “Koré” with the initiation ritual takes place every two years and the practices and teachings are spread over two periods, every two consecutive years.
First time: The immortality to which the being aspires can only be obtained after a symbolic death. It is in this first part that the neophytes are “killed” and initiated. It starts with the full moon and lasts for fifteen days.
Second time: It concerns the theomorphosis of being, which takes place twelve months later. The ceremony begins with a ritual theft of the bags with their clothes and belongings, which the neophytes hide in a hidden place and their owners will only be able to recover them by paying for some cauris that the neophytes will deliver to the head of the brotherhood who will instead introduce a small stone into the bags. After ten sessions of ritual theft and six stones in the bags, the chief announces the date of the next ritual.
The ritual theft of their bags is assimilated to the death and reincarnation of humans. The Bambara think that the market square symbolizes the world and the bags or pulls them out of the street vendors symbolize men.
“Koré” is the spirit of the waters. Its brotherhood pursues two objectives:
1.- Return to the human being its original harmony overshadowed by circumcision.
2.- Allow the human being to recover, on the spiritual plane, his primitive femininity, his mystical union with God and the triumph over death.
“Koré” activates the moral and intellectual formation of being. No one can claim any other initiation after having participated in the “Koré” rituals. The great festival of “Koré” with the initiation ritual takes place every two years and the practices and teachings are spread over two periods, every two consecutive years.
First time: The immortality to which the being aspires can only be obtained after a symbolic death. It is in this first part that the neophytes are “killed” and initiated. It starts with the full moon and lasts for fifteen days.
Second time: It concerns the theomorphosis of being, which takes place twelve months later. The ceremony begins with a ritual theft of the bags with their clothes and belongings, which the neophytes hide in a hidden place and their owners will only be able to recover them by paying for some cauris that the neophytes will deliver to the head of the brotherhood who will instead introduce a small stone into the bags. After ten sessions of ritual theft and six stones in the bags, the chief announces the date of the next ritual.
The ritual theft of their bags is assimilated to the death and reincarnation of humans. The Bambara think that the market square symbolizes the world and the bags or pulls them out of the street vendors symbolize men.
Anthropozoomorph mask called Fake. Two large antelope ears break from his skull, symbolizing the relationship between man and the earth, between which a chameleon encamps, one of the primordial animals of creation, according to the bambar cosmogony and symbol of prudence and wisdom.
Further technical information
- Width
- 19 cm
- Attributed period
- Mid-century XX or earlier.
- Recorded weight
- 1 g
Details transcribed from the original catalogue; they are not a recent physical inspection.
Country on the map
Mali. The country associated with the catalog is shown, not the current location of the piece.
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