Strange Imports African Art Carved Fish The Bozo people are master fishermen, and this brightly colored fish puppet was used to teach the different generations about their community and way of life. Niger and Bani rivers Segou; Bamana Kingdom
Strange Imports African Art Carved Fish The Bozo people are master fishermen, and this brightly colored fish puppet was used to teach the different generations about their community and way of life. Niger and Bani rivers Segou; Bamana Kingdom
Strange Imports African Art Carved Fish The Bozo people are master fishermen, and this brightly colored fish puppet was used to teach the different generations about their community and way of life. Niger and Bani rivers Segou; Bamana Kingdom
Strange Imports African Art Carved Fish The Bozo people are master fishermen, and this brightly colored fish puppet was used to teach the different generations about their community and way of life. Niger and Bani rivers Segou; Bamana Kingdom
Strange Imports African Art Carved Fish The Bozo people are master fishermen, and this brightly colored fish puppet was used to teach the different generations about their community and way of life. Niger and Bani rivers Segou; Bamana Kingdom
Strange Imports African Art Carved Fish The Bozo people are master fishermen, and this brightly colored fish puppet was used to teach the different generations about their community and way of life. Niger and Bani rivers Segou; Bamana Kingdom
Vintage Hand Painted Bozo Fish Puppet, Mali Africa
Vintage Hand Painted Bozo Fish Puppet, Mali Africa
Vintage Hand Painted Bozo Fish Puppet, Mali Africa
Vintage Hand Painted Bozo Fish Puppet, Mali Africa

Vintage Hand Painted Bozo Fish Puppet, Mali Africa

  • Sale
  • $162

Fish Puppet 
Bozo People
Mali

Dimensions: 14.5” x 4.5” x 4” tall

Excellent Condition

The Bozo people are regarded as some of the best fishermen, and this brightly colored fish puppet was used to teach the different generations about their community's way of life. This beautiful and meaningful piece of folk art will be a wonderful accent to any home.

Along the Niger and Bani rivers in the region of Segou, the former capital of the Bamana kingdom, performances with brightly painted and costumed puppets are staged by the village youth association. Although today Bamana farmers and Bozo fishermen participate together in these performances, oral tradition holds that the puppet theater originated among the Bozo, descendants of the Soninke rulers of the medieval Ghana Empire and perhaps the original inhabitants of the area.

For the puppet performances a small mobile stage is covered with cloths or grasses concealing the men inside, who move the stage across the dance area. Fitted in front with a wooden animal head with articulated jaws, the stage is itself a large puppet. In addition small carved heads or figures with movable limbs poke out from the top and are made to twirl and dance. Sometimes men wearing face or helmet masks perform alongside the puppets. The puppets and masks depict animals, fantastic creatures, and characters from village life-the farmer, the soldier, the mother, and so forth. Through the movements of the puppets and the songs that accompany them, the youth association is able to comment on the social and political life of the community.
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