Suruku Bambara hyena mask, Mali, wood - Lot 236

Lot 236
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Estimation :
1000 - 2000 EUR
Suruku Bambara hyena mask, Mali, wood - Lot 236
Suruku Bambara hyena mask, Mali, wood H.53cmxW.21cm (base) Among the Bamana, initiation societies play an important social and political role. The best known of these is the Ntomo, the initiation society for young children aged six to thirteen, of which circumcision was an important step. Ntomo masks are well known to the general public for having up to eight horns on their foreheads. The Ntomo then opens the door to the Korè, the initiation society sacralizing the passage from childhood to adulthood. Boys then spend a week in the bush under the supervision of elders who bully and humiliate them, and teach them about plants, medicine, sexuality and more. Korè initiates are divided into different classes, each with its own animal attribute. On their return to the village, some initiates wear masks corresponding to the animals they embody: lions (Jaraw), monkeys (Sulaw) or hyenas (Suruku).
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