Sumboor Simbo Koromask and costume (Bwa or Gurunsi).
Burkina Faso.
Mask: Wood, polychromia, fibres, height: 48 cm.
Costume: Fibres, height: 100 cm.
Musée du quai Branly, Paris.
The Bwa population worships Do, the creator’s son, and the
founding ancestors of the clans, during sowing and funerals. On
these occasions, masks are made again in link with the initiation
ceremonies (they are sculpted by a blacksmith and painted by
initiates). They thus ensured social cohesion. In Gurunsi and
Bobo‘s societies, these masks represent the Great Hornbill or
Nwo. The plank embodies a bird’s wings and tail. The little black
triangles on the tips stand for thecobaantelope. The black
squares refer to goatskins worn by the elders, the white ones to
the initiates.