Djenne

When it comes to Djennee, it is not about an ethnic group, it is about various cultures and styles throughout the centuries. Djenée is located about 600 kilometres from the capital, Bamako, and belongs to the Mopti region. The city was created in the century IX the Bozo, fishing village, that gave it the name of Djenée that in Bozo means “genius of the waters”. In fact, Djenée is an island that does not reach 100 hectares built between two arms of river Bani, tributary of Niger. It was built next to the old Djenne-Djenno. Because of its strategic geographical location that made it an important commercial center where the goods that were traveling through the Sahara transited, it was coveted, conquered and occupied by numerous peoples that succeeded throughout history. Quickly converted to Islam the city is conquered successively by the Tuaregthe Songhaï, the Peul, the Weapon, the Bambara, the Tukulor and finally, in the century XIX by the French troops of General Archinard. After so many conquests and invasions, it is not surprising that today it is inhabited by a multitude of ethnic groups, as with the Songhaï, PeulBambara, Sarakolé, Bozo, Dogon or MossiDjenée is a city of mud, because in this material were built their houses and this is also the material of their famous mosque, ordered to be built by King Koi Komboro at the end of the century XIII. It is not surprising, then, that all the remains of this city that reach to our day are made of clay or what we now call terracotta. Given the multitude of ethnic groups in the Djenée region, it is impossible to attribute the paternity of these objects to a certain ethnic group, as is the case with the rest of the pieces we integrate into what we commonly call African art. All of these pieces are named after a vessel, statue, or figure of Djenée and within this denomination various styles are attributed to it. Main styles: - Djenne style (Djenne-Djenne), centuries XIII a XV are the most well known and also the most classic. - Bankoni style, near the current Bamako, about the same time. As in the case of Djenne style, maternity homes and men on their knees or sitting and equestrian figures of knights carrying arms or ornaments, similar to those appearing in the Niger Delta, have appeared. - Niger's lower delta style, centuries XII a XV. Rounded features and without the scarifications presented by the other styles. Nor do they have globular eyes. There are numerous statues of knights appearing for several centuries, the most important being those of centuries. XII a XVIknown indistinctly by the name Djenné or Djenné Jenno. These sculptural manifestations prove once again the importance that the horse has had for centuries in the territory that corresponds to today's Mali. Although it has not been considered a sacred animal, the horse has always enjoyed special care and attention in these regions. It is, par excellence, the animal that confers a high rank to its owner. Usually in these statues there is an excess of ornamentation both in the knight and in his mount. The reddish varnish that covers Djenne's terracottas has a funerary meaning.