Mask of the Koré

Animism among the Bambara is characterized by its secret societies of “N’Tomo” and “Koré”.

“N’Tomo” is the masculine spirit that protects children from the male sex before their integration into the adult world and society. It looks after them and strengthens their sense of discipline and solidarity.

- “Koré”, is the spirit of the waters. His 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.

The blacksmiths, who work in the manufacture of masks and art objects are called “nummi”. They have a monopoly on forging, sculpture and magic. They work mainly the iron, bronze and soft wood of the ceiba.

Many of the wood sculptures are traditionally finished to the burning iron and thus their charred surface gives them their black dye. Numerous pyrogravated incisions are made often tracing geometric lines that offer arabesque designs.

Some masks are coated with thin copper or aluminium plates, trimmed and embossed. Sometimes the ensemble is accompanied by a set of cauris. Some masks wear a small mirror and pearls.

The masks of “Koré” and “N’Tomo” represent human faces but can also be zoomorphs or anthropozoomorphs as is the case, and represent mythical and symbolic animals in this case.

Anthroozoomorphous face on which six horns appear. Absence of cauris. These masks announce the idea of knowledge and teaching. Black patina.