“Index” in “Seeing the Unseen”
Note: Pages that are italicized indicate illustrations, and page 114 includes a table.
Aaron Furman Gallery, 113, 246n18
Abu-Lughod, Lila, 24
accumulative arts, 3–4. See also assemblages
Aden, Jonathan E. (Akare), 174
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi, “The Danger of a Single Story,” 260n19
African films: at the Cannes film festival, 196; indigenous culture in, 197, 198–99
African historical and classical arts: critiques of, 226n2; cultural centers and, 29; individualistic and contextual approach to, 5–6, 8–10, 16, 18–19, 53; notion of tradition in, 227n4; primitiveness in, 8. See also cultural and ethnic groups; scholarship on African arts
African social history: egotism in, 212–13; prejudices in scholarship on, 20
ambiguity: aesthetics of, 103–4; importance of, 4, 97; pervasiveness of, 92–93; preferences for, 234n64
Amselle, Jean-Loup, 30–31, 209
animal sacrifice: and absorption of energy through, 206; energy released through, 204–5, 205; historical observations of, 158, 247n21; as integral to power association arts, 113, 115, 137, 168; during performances, 143, 144, 165; inYeelen, 204, 205. See also blood and coagulated blood
ANOM. See Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer (ANOM)
Appadurai, Arjun, 208
Archinard, Louis, 105, 106, 107, 108, 128
architecture (buildings): as assemblages of knowledge, 223; creation and purpose of, 92–93; evocation of assemblages and installations in, 129, 136; flux and indeterminacy in, 132, 145; importance of process in, 246n15; as marker of completion, 159, 191; materials buried in, 191–92; pointy materials in, 129, 129; power association houses, 6, 88–89, 159, 160–61
Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer (ANOM), 26, 33; photographs in, 27
Argenti, Nicolas, 256n23
art history: art as a door into diversity of worldviews, xiv; attention to people’s interrelationships in, 33–34; and classification of identities, 30; historical dynamism in, 31; and multiple ways of viewing the world, xiv; visual qualities and, 99, 101, 103, 104. See also cultural and ethnic groups; scholarship on African arts
Art Institute of Chicago, 49, 113
assemblages: accentuation of tension in, 137; access to knowledge about components of, 133; in art practice, 226n2; construction and forms in, 105; creation and purpose of, 47, 92–93; encrustation, 113; fluctuations in displays of, 137–41; flux and indeterminacy in, 132, 145; illusions created in, 132; instability in, 137, 140; knowledge in, 223; variety in materials, shapes, and sizes, 104–19, 245n14; Yeelen as an example of, 201. See also boliw; materials for assemblages
Athol (MA, USA), xii–xiii
audiences: attention to leaders’ skills, 171; cinema critics and fans, 195; interaction of power association arts with, 96–97; Komo entertainment of, 27, 147; lack of scholarly attention to, 156, 157; and permission to scorn performers, 154; photographs of performance-audience interaction, 33; photographs and, 33; and pointy objects, 132; porcupine quills and, 131; and public secrets, 157; responses to performances by, 5, 157, 165–66; seeing and not seeing by, 128, 132, 133–34, 135, 144; and selection for private counsel, 154; sharing stories of power association events by, 167; specialists’ use of art and, 4, 137; and the tease of full revelation, 136; and tensions between visible and invisible properties, 145–46; types of, 50, 175–76; variation in individual’s experience of a performance, 172. See also performances; unseen and unseeing audiences
authenticity: expectations of, 201, 260n19; in film, 197, 201
Baas, Fran, 242n60
Bakhtin, Mikhail, 34
Ballo, Bangari, 75–76
Ballo, Niana, 76
Ballo, Sidi, 252n9
Ballo, Zanga, 76
Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA), x, 48, 113
Bamana, meaning of term, 29, 30, 227n7
Bamana (Bambara) peoples, 18, 78–79
Bamana: The Art of Existence in Mali (exhibition), 72
Bamberger, Joan, 190
bamusow, 192
Bandiagara Escarpment, 210
Bangali, Lamissa: about, 31; on author’s behavior at performances, 185; on chapters’ and specialists’ reputations, 167; confirmation of author’s understandings by, 32; performance to honor father of, 164; on power from absorption, 133; on the power of clitorises, 189
Bangali, Sirikoro, 63–64
Bangali, Yaya: interpretation of situations by, 168–69; on nyama, 59, 236n14; on objects’ power, 119; on photographs shown to, 33; on rainy season performances, 163; on women as original owners of Komo and Kono, 189–90; on women’s participation in performances, 185, 187
Bangali Komo chapter (Sokouraba, Burkina Faso), 192–93
Barbier-Mueller Collection, 231nn35–36
Barro, Koutié, 193
Barrow (AK), 16
basiw, 247n25
Baxandall, Michael, 126
Bazin, Jean, 30
Beek, Walter van, 209
beer consumption as performance feature, 150–51, 153, 158
Bellamy, [François Auguste] Dr., 116, 118, 128, 135
Bellman, Beryl Larry, 234n4
Bird, Charles S., 235n7
blacksmiths, 74, 125–26, 242n63
Blier, Suzanne Preston, 227n4
blood and coagulated blood, 113, 115, 115
BMA. See Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA)
Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso), 26, 27–28, 32
Bochet, Gilbert, 28
boliw: as accumulative art, 3–4; animal horn–shaped, 105, 107, 108–9; bovine-shaped, 2, 9; composite objects, 108; ethnographers’ theft of, 66; as “fetishes,” 244n3; Henry’s description of, 62; hippopotamus-shaped, 94, 95, 105; humanoid-shaped, 105, 106; importance of process in making of, 246n15; materials in, 8, 114, 118, 121, 130, 133, 244n2; potency of, 96; and powerful energies, 57; pyramidal, 105, 106; as reflection of makers’ abilities, 96; variety of shapes and materials of, 47–50; visibility and obscurity of, 95, 97–98. See also helmet masks and helmet mask–shaped objects
Bongo Spring, 210
Boone, Sylvia Ardyn, Radiance from the Waters, 45
Bougoula (Burkina Faso), 17, 121, 155, 169
Brenner, Louis, 83–84
Brett-Smith, Sarah: on absorption and textiles, 133; on basiw, 247n25; on consequences of unauthorized viewings, 255n14; on female researchers’ access to objects, 176; on the female sex, objects, and nyama, 183, 184, 189; on gold in helmet masks, 118; on oppressive environments for women, 257n32; and stories about performers, 167; on women’s silences, 177; writings on power associations by, 22
Burkina Faso: independence of, 61; map of locations in, 17; political unrest in, 233n47; as site of author’s fieldwork, 32–33; in three-corner region, 24, 25
calamities, reasons for, 92
Cannes film festival, 196, 259n5
“Case du culte syncrétiste du Massa (dieu de San) à Fourou” (photograph), 81
“Case du Komo de Sanzana” (photograph), 88
Castelnuovo, Enrico, 29
Christianity, 82, 83, 170, 181
cikonre, 183–84, 189. See also marriage festivities, annual
Cissé, Souleymane: on audiences of Yeelen, 197–98; and blockage of film projects by officials, 212–13; Den Muso (1975), 213; emphasis on Mali in films of, 199; ethnographic adviser to, 210; expertise in cinematography, 199–200; identity of, 200; on initiation in Yeelen, 211–12; interest in Kubrick’s 2001, 262n29; Komo and assumptions about, 197, 208–9; on light in Yeelen’s title, 214; orthography of name, 258n1; perseverance of, 213; praise for, 196–97; primitiveness and support for, 198; on selfishness, 211, 212–13. See also Yeelen
Cissé, Youssouf Tata, 66, 209, 210
Cissoko, Kojugu, 118
Ciwara, 32, 60, 62, 67, 74, 76, 77, 78, 90
Clamens, Gabriel, 69
Clippel, Catherine De, 107
clitorises, excision of, 184, 189
Coleman, Nicole, 230n29
Colin, Roland: on abandonment of power association houses, 239n42; administrative work of, 238n36; on disappearance of power association chapters and arts, 241n56; encounter with Nya by, 63–64; on Ngana, 238n40; on prohibitions on viewing performances, 254n35; reports on political and religious activities, 79–83, 236n21; reports on populations and power associations, 74–76, 77, 78–79, 85, 89–90
Colin-Noguès, Renée, 63; photographs by, 77, 81, 88
Colleyn, Jean-Paul, 22, 30, 118, 230n26, 244n5
Collier, Delinda, 262n29
colonialism: role in delineation of cultural groups and languages, 10, 231n30; and Senufo and Bamana identities, 29, 30; and terminology describing African arts, 19–20; and the term village, 14, 15. See also French colonial rule
competition and exchange: invisibility of dueling methods in, 128; leaders’ stories about each other, 168–69; and Malian selfishness, 211–13; materials and protection from rivals, 132; rivalries, 90–91; rivalries and alliances, 13–14; story about Do Ouattara’s power and imprisonment, 170–71; through marketplaces of power, 68. See also marketplaces of power
conflict resolution, Nya example of, 63–64
Conrad, David, 84
conservation-based research: collaborative research with conservators, 44, 116, 242n60; ethical approaches to, 45, 116; and materials incorporated into power objects, 113, 114; and technical analysis of power objects, 44–45, 116, 234n62
Convers, Michel, 69
Cooksey, Susan Elizabeth, 243n1
Coulibaly, Bè, 59, 110, 125–26, 183, 235n12, 245n13
Coulibaly, Karfa, 4, 35, 55; additions to wooden armatures, 110; on Bè Coulibaly, 125; building for power association chapter of, 129; and connections with powerful people, 55; difficulty in finding animal horns, 248n40; fire in performances of, 124, 142, 162; helmet mask base offered by author to, 110, 183; participation in author’s research by, 39; on perceived threat at Wara performance, 166; performing for the audience, 142, 148, 149–53; on plant collection, 133; on power of his mask, 68–69; on the protection of carvers, 126; on scheduling performances, 163, 164; and secrecy of objects, 234n62; specialist knowledge and stature of, 37; story about Navon Traoré told by, 169; on unlocking secrets to heal more people, 45; on use of blood in power objects, 115, 115; on use of plants to smoke objects, 133; on use of pointy materials, 129–30; on women as original owners of Komo and Kono, 189–90; on women hearing performances, 256n24; on women’s power, 189. See also dahaba installation
Coulibaly, Missa, 59
Coulibaly, Nafogo, 85
Coulibaly, Naliyere, 178–79
Coulibaly, Nangounian, 130, 131
Coulibaly, N’gartina, 189, 190
Coulibaly, Seriba, 125
Cousins, Mark, 262n29
Crapanzano, Vincent, 5, 230n23
cultural and ethnic groups: analysis of the arts through, xiv, xv, 10, 20–21, 46, 60, 156, 232n38; colonialism in naming of, 74; discreteness of, x, 29; linguistic classifications and, 30, 230n30; transcending limitations of, 5, 18–19, 22, 23–24, 26, 222; use of term three-corner region and, 24. See also African historical and classical arts; identity; scholarship on African arts
curators and collectors: classification of power objects by, 60, 98; documentation for objects, 113; risks in displaying power association objects, 249n45; use of colonial-era identity markers, 29–30
dahaba installation: animal sacrifices over, 144; changes in appearance of, 137, 144; meaning of term, 136; performances with fire around, 140, 142, 144; photographs of, 106, 137–40, 138–43; and pointy objects, 129; power objects in, 105, 106; varied viewings of, 136
Dakoro (Burkina Faso), 59
Dallas Museum of Art (DMA), 113, 120, 121, 242n60
“Danse du Kono chez les Sénoufo” (photograph and attributions, 1950), 26–27, 27, 32, 50
Delafosse, Maurice, 61–62
Dembélé, Kadiene N’golo, 12
Démbélé, M’Peni, 80
Dembélé, Siaka, 12
Deutsche Inner-Afrikanische Forschungs-Expedition (1907–1909), 72, 189
Diallo, Bakary, 63
Diamitani, Boureima Tiékoroni: dissertation of, xii, 31, 32; helmet mask photograph by, 121; on initiation types, 42; one tribe–one style paradigm in work of, 22; on secrecy’s influence on research and writing, 43; on similarities between Komo and Komo masks, 102; on speaking and nonspeaking power objects, 58; on the use of whistles, 186
Diarra, Fadio, 63
Diawala (Côte d’Ivoire), 69
Diawara, Manthia, 197, 198, 200–201, 202, 208–9
Diélé (Mali), 63
Dieterlen, Germaine, 66, 209, 210
Dieu de San, 79
Dinneen, Brittany Dolph, 242n60
divination rooms, 243n1
DMA. See Dallas Museum of Art (DMA)
documentation: assumptions in, 19–20; dearth of, 145; discrepancies in, 26–28; for helmet masks, 113; key details omitted from, 104, 118. See also scholarship on African arts
Dogon communities, 209
Dougouni (Mali), 78–79, 239n42
Doumbia, Nahawa, 11
Dovey, Lindiwe, 196
dozow (hunters), 11–13, 12, 229n18
Drewal, Margaret Thompson, 156, 168, 179–80
Eisenstein, Sergei, 200
ethnic groups. See cultural and ethnic groups
ethnographic cinema, 198, 201, 209, 210
ethnographies: and evidence, 33; of Komo, 209–10; of the particular, 24, 33–34; of power associations, 66–67
Ethnologue on Senufo languages, 232n39
Fangouélé (Mali), 241n56
Favret-Saada, Jeanne, 41–42
feminist theory, 188, 190, 191
Ferme, Mariane, The Underneath of Things, 103–4
Ferragut, Jean-Noël, 213, 214–15, 217, 263n43
Festival de Cannes, 196, 259n5
“fétiches” (“fetishes”), 59–60, 97, 97, 236n18, 244n3
film. See Yeelen (Cissé 1987)
Fischer-Lichte, Erika, 155–56, 175
the Folona (Mali), 79–83
Formanoir, Maxime de, 237n34
Förster, Till, 21, 235n5, 255n8
Fowler Museum (UCLA), 44–45, 116
French colonial rule: attempted domination of Komo by, 65–66; confiscation and destruction of boliw under, 64–65; conflict resolution by Nya under, 63–64; ethnographers’ accounts of power associations under, 66–67; and Islam, 236n21, 242n58; pursuit of information about Komo by, 66; surveillance of Massa and Islam by, 83; view of power associations as threats, 62–63, 64
Frobenius, Leo, 72, 189, 247n21
Frobenius-Institut an der Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität, drawings in, 6, 73
Gallieni, Joseph-Simon, 61, 65, 158, 159, 174
Gamboni, Dario, 96
gender dynamics and complexities: chapter protection for women, 181; foreign female researchers’ identity, 176–77; and Komo song, 193–94; in power association operations, 173–74; women’s agency, 188–89, 194, 257n32; women’s behavior during Kono performances, 177; women’s experiences of performances, 178–80, 185–86, 187–88. See also unseen and unseeing audiences; women
GEOnet Names Server database, xxv, xxvii, 78
Ghana. See Lobi arts
Ginzburg, Carlo, 29
Glaze, Anita: Art and Death in a Senufo Village, 28–29, 69, 231nn37–38; and geographic distinctions in Senufo region, 232n39; images of masquerades collected by, 37, 38, 68–69; on masking traditions and poro, 237n31; on masquerades, 237n30; and precise distinctions in art, 30, 68; research on Senufo arts by, 21; study of gender and male initiation performances by, 179; and term three-corner region, 24
Glissant, Édouard, 234n64
Goldwater, Robert, 144, 246n19; Antelopes and Queens (exhibition), 98, 99; Bambara Sculpture from the Western Sudan, 98, 99, 246n18
“Gomakoro” (photograph), 89
Grammont, Étienne Carton de, documentary on Yeelen, 52
Griaule, Marcel, 8, 13, 47, 66, 209, 210
Groebner, Valentin, 14
harmful actions: audience behavior as threat of, 158, 166; situated in capacity to heal, 202; specialists’ engagement in, 91–92; specialists’ guarding of knowledge to prevent, 11, 41, 249n45
Heacock, Gene, 170
helmet masks and helmet mask–shaped objects: absence from Yeelen of, 206; and airplanes, 168, 169; armatures for, 125–26; construction and materials in, 107, 109, 110, 111–12, 124, 135, 242n60; crusty surfaces of, 136; formal criteria for classifying, 99, 100; Glaze on, 70; Henry’s photographs of, 95; illustrations and photographs of, 48–49, 94, 100–101, 110–12, 117, 122, 134; and Kono/Komo distinctions, 99, 103, 145; materials around ears in, 245n13; in museum collections, 111, 134, 246nn18–19; pointy materials in, 129–30; references to female genitalia in, 183; specialists and leaders’ attributions of, 101–2; use of, 47; variations in, 244n5; in Yeelen, 206
Henry, Joseph: and dangers of kortiw, 249n49; description of nyama by, 235n7; disassembly of boliw by, 8, 47, 96, 97, 145; helmet mask identification by, 99, 101; hippopotamus-shaped boli image, 94, 95, 105; images of boliw, 106; L’âme d’un peuple africain, 18; on materials in boliw, 118, 244n2; and meaning of boli, 244n3; on power associations and objects, 62, 67, 85; timeframe for collection of information by, 84; on women viewing masqueraders, 256n24
Herrmann, Max, 155
Higa, Chris, 112
Himmelheber, Hans, 220n62
Hugershoff, Reinhard, 72, 74, 247n21, 247n25
Humeau, Jean-Michel, 213, 263n43
hunters’ associations (dozo tonw), 7, 61, 90, 164, 165
identity: breadth of experiences shaping, 200; choice of terminology to articulate, 23; classification and complex relationships among groups, 30; fluidity and diversity in, xv; language and, 230n30; poro and, 237n28; self-identity and other’s views of us, xii–xiv; shifting nature of populations’ identities, 75–76
initiation: and access to performances, 42–43; life as, 211–12; study of, 179; types of, 42; in Yeelen, 211, 218–19
installations: creation and purpose of, 92–93; flux and indeterminacy in, 145; oscillations between precision and ambiguity in, 132. See also dahaba installation
Institutional Review Boards (IRBs), 39
interventions for healing and assistance, 154, 158–59, 167–68, 182–83
IRBs. See Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)
Islam: Arabic text in power objects, 84, 242n60; French officials and, 236n21; Mande traditions and, 242n63; Massa, power associations, and, 82–84, 242n58; and origins of Komo and Kono, 84, 190; postcolonial promotion of, 85. See also Muslims
James J. Ross Archive of African Images (Yale University), photographs in, 94, 101, 106
Jaquinod, François, 231n32
Jespers, Philippe, 230n26
jow, description and terms used for, 47, 56–57. See also power associations
Kabarasso (Mali), 78
Kangala (Burkina Faso): hunters’ musicians in, 59, 235n13; location of, 17; marriage festivities in, 179; performance parade in, 7, 165; power association chapters in, 32, 87; power association house, 161; Wara performance in, 162
Kangala hunters’ association masquerader, 7, 166
Kankalaba (Burkina Faso), 131
Karangasso (Mali), 258n44
Kasfir, Sidney, 20
Kéita, Fadima, 75
Kenney, Nancy, 242n60
knowledge: guarded by specialists, 36, 126–27, 133; important for working with powerful materials, 119, 121, 125, 127–28; individualistic nature of, 201; and learning about unseen performance details, 172; and multiple ways of knowing, 196, 222; museums’ inability to capture, 124; power association leaders’ pursuit of, 58; production and dissemination of, 45–46, 221, 224; prohibited knowledge, 37; riddle about, 40–41; scholars’ ethical commitment toward, 223; specialists’ expansion and use of, 56, 123–24, 125; and specialists’ reputation, 86–87; used for good and for harm, 203–4; work’s revelation of changes in, 145
knowledge production, subjectivity in, xv, xvii
Komo: ethnographies of, 209–10; Gallieni at ceremony in Sibi, 159–61; hand gestures of, 245n13; history and origins of, 61–62, 189, 236n20; as male-dominated, 171, 173; nyama in, 184; performances sponsored by, 32, 50, 69; power association house, 160; practitioners’ dealings with the French, 66; prominence of, 60; relationship with Islam, 84; reputation of, 58; scarcity of photographs of specialists of, 32; secrets of, 52; song lyrics, 147, 171, 193–94; and speaking power objects, 58; system of signs for, 209, 210; women as important audiences for, 175; women’s contributions to, 51, 90, 173, 174, 193. See also Yeelen (Cissé 1987)
Komo arts: helmet masks compared to Kono helmet masks, 102–3; initiation and access to performances, 42–43; performances, 32, 61; studies of Senufo-speaking communities and, 22
Koné, Kassim, 233n60, 253n26, 260n21
Kono: art-historical studies of, 28, 90; founding of, 189; importance of objects offered by women, 183; Karfa Coulibaly and, 136; Kono house, 6; as male-dominated, 171; nyama in, 184; politics and, 155, 234n1; power objects of, 69; prominence of, 60; scarcity of photographs of specialists, 32; seizure and analysis of objects from, 8; and speaking power objects, 58; Traoré Kono chapter (Bougoula, Burkina Faso), 163, 169; women and, 51, 173, 175, 177, 254n35; as the work of the devil, 181
Kono arts: helmet masks compared to Komo helmet masks, 102–3; photographs of performances, 32
“Kono house in Sangaradugu” (drawing), 6
Korhogo (Côte d’Ivoire), 28, 31, 71
kortiw, 129–30, 133, 134, 249n49
Kotoura (Burkina Faso), 32
“Kunugbaha masquerade (blacksmiths’), February 1970” (photograph), 38
Labouret, Henri, 65
Lamp, Frederick John, x
l’eau de Moussa (l’eau de Sinématiali), 82, 240n52, 241n53
“Le fétiche Kabolaa” (photograph), 130
Leiris, Michel, 8, 47, 66, 113
light in cinematic productions: bright light, 216, 217; natural and artificial, 201, 214–16
Lipkin, Mr. and Mrs. Morton, 113, 246n19
Little, Kenneth, 43
Lobi, meaning of term, x–xi, xv
Lobi arts, author’s introduction to, x–xi
local-level histories: buying of a power association chapter, 86–87; difficulty of tracing, 105; geography discipline and, xiv; marrying into specific chapters, 86–87; rivalries among chapters, 90–91
Lofiné (Mali), 241n56
Loock, Ulrich, 234n64
Lubet, Steven, Interrogating Ethnography, 33
MacGaffey, Wyatt, 245n14
MacRae, Suzanne, 197, 198, 199, 211
Maesen, Albert, 21
Malé, Salia, 261n23
Mali: droughts in, 199, 260n12; independence of, 61; map of locations in, 17; promotion of Islam by, 85; selfishness in, 211–13; in three-corner region, 24, 25
Mande, meaning of term, 227n7
Mande languages, 10, 16, 75, 229n19
Mapping Senufo (Gagliardi and Petridis), xvi, xvii, 224
marginalized populations, experiences of, xv
marketplaces of power: borderlands, migration, and, 71–78; chapters and pursuit of knowledge in, 68; and leaders’ alignment with chapters, 78; poro and, 68–71; waxing and waning of, 82
marriage, conceptions of, 191
marriage festivities, annual, 179, 180, 184, 191, 194, 255n8
“Mask of Komma [probably Komo] of the Senufo, Pig’s Head” (drawing), 73
masks, images of, 94, 95. See also helmet masks and helmet mask–shaped objects
masqueraders: concealment of humanity by, 252n10; effect of distinctive sounds by, 171; Glaze’s attributions of, 70–71; images of, 7, 26–27, 38; mutual interaction with audiences, 50; women’s access to particular images of, 37
masquerades: absence from Yeelen of, 206; complexity in performance practices for, 156–57; context and variation in, 166; and funerals, 237n30; gender bias in study of, 179; Glaze’s attributions of, 70–71; importance of audience interaction in, 157, 168; by Kangala dancers, 158; scholarship on, 156, 157; significance of unseen audiences to, 175; sounds alerting women, 171, 176, 178–79, 181, 186, 187–88, 250n1; women’s contributions to, 180, 183, 191, 256n23; women’s experiences of, 179–80
Massa: French colonial government’s concern over, 242n58; movement in the Folona, 79; origins and description of, 80, 82; and power associations, 80, 239n46, 241n56; relationship with Islam, 82–83; structure for, 80, 81; Wolo (Mali), 17, 80
materials for assemblages: acquisition of materials from specialized markets, 124; Bellamy’s description of, 118; difficult-to-obtain materials, 124, 189; disparate and unique materials in, 123; earth or mud, 113–14, 118, 247n23; gold, 118; in helmet masks and helmet mask–shaped objects, 107, 109, 110, 111–12, 114; invisibility of, 133; in museums’ power association art collections, 113, 114; observers’ list of, 114, 118–19; pointy materials, 107, 108, 111, 117, 122, 128–29, 130–32; procurement of animal parts, 125; sacrificial materials and blood, 113, 115; scarce materials, 121, 248n40; secrecy in procurement of, 126, 145; in surface layers, 116, 117, 118. See also blood and coagulated blood; plant matter
Maxwell, Heather, 11
McCall, Daniel, 231nn37–38
McNaughton, Patrick: on blacksmiths, 242n63; focus on a single performance, 252n9; Glaze’s communication with, 70–71; on Komo masks, 107; on Komo performers, 147; on lists of power associations, 60, 90; on malicious sorcery, 91; nyama in thought of, 235n7; on objectivity in art history, 33–34; on power associations’ histories, 72; on singing’s appeal to women, 185; on studies of African arts, 71; use of term power associations by, 47, 56, 58; writings about power associations by, 22
medieval European cities, 14
Mehretu, Julie, 234n64
Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met): helmet masks and helmet mask–shaped objects, 100, 111, 111–13; material bundles in conservation lab of, 112, 112; power objects in, 2, 3, 46
M’Fa Jigi. See Fajigi
Michael C. Carlos Museum, 114
Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, 100
missionaries, 62–63, 64, 227n5, 231n32. See also Henry, Joseph; Nadal, Germain
Mission Dakar-Djibouti (1931–1933), 8, 66, 113
Monteil, Charles, 64, 84, 244n2
MPA. See Museum of Primitive Art (MPA)
Murphy, David, 198
Musa, Mansa, hajj of, 84
Musée de l’Homme, donations to, 107
Musée d’Ethnographie du Trocadéro: Archinard donations to, 105–7, 106, 108; Bellamy donations to, 116, 117, 128, 135; Zeltner donations to, 65, 122, 123, 135–36
Musée du quai Branly–Jacques Chirac: Archinard collection of, 106, 108; Bellamy donations to, 117, 118, 248n33; power objects in, 9, 106, 108, 117, 122, 123, 245n12; zoomorphic mask–shaped object, 117, 122
Museum for African Art (New York), 72
Museum of Modern Art, The Art of Assemblage (Seitz), 226n2
Museum of Primitive Art (MPA), 98, 113
Museum Rietberg (Zurich), 72
museums. See curators and collectors; documentation; specific museums
Muslims: Cissé’s identity as, 200; Colin’s identification of Dougouni residents as, 78–79; conflicts with power associations, 65
Nadal, Germain, 147, 231n31; 1950 photograph by (see “Danse du Kono chez les Sénoufo”)
Nama: French authority and, 65; objects confiscated from, 123; prominence of, 60
Narayan, Kirin, 177
National Geographic Encyclopedia, 229n17
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), xxv, 78, 225n1 (Note), 226n3
Nelson, Steven, 229n21
New Orleans Museum of Art, 113, 133, 134
Ngana (Burkina Faso), 17, 75, 238n40, 254n35
N’goloniebougou (Mali), 78
Nioumala (Mali), 123
Nooter Roberts, Mary, 41, 97; Secrecy: African Art that Conceals and Reveals, 135
Noumoussoba (Burkina Faso), 59
Nouna (Mali), 76
nyama, 58–59, 184, 189, 235n12, 235nn7–8, 236n14
Nzewi, Ugochukwu-Smooth C., Critical Interventions (with Siegenthaler and Siegert), 228n12
obscurity and visibility: in boliw, 95; in use of tools used by specialists and leaders, 205
Office for Human Research Protections, 39
Ollivier, Daniel, 263n43
O’Neil, Megan, 132
“one tribe–one style” model, 20–21, 22, 28, 230n23
oral histories: about Fajigi, 85; about the source of power objects, 84
Orange (MA, USA), ix–x
Ota (Nigeria), 156
Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), 44, 86, 181
Ouattara, André, 34
Ouattara, Dahaba: advice received from Wara, Kono, and Komo performers, 154; collaboration with, 31; contribution of, 34; and delivery of author’s note to Mélégué Traoré, 155; on femaleness of the author, 50, 177; introduction to leaders by, 37; on light in women’s houses during performances, 257n25; on operation of power associations, 61; on performance in the rainy season, 164; and revelation of photographic images, 244n6; on rivalry between Touba Ouattara and Bembèlê Traoré, 91; story about Do Ouattara, 170–71; story about helmet mask in performance, 168; uncle of, 87; on use of female research assistant, 255n8; on a woman’s unauthorized viewing of a performance, 182–83; on woman with bad reputation, 166
Ouattara, Djeleni, 190–91
Ouattara, Do: Christian community established by, 82; and family’s Komo chapter, 252n16; on his father, 90–91, 135, 162; on leaders’ aims, 243n76; story about, 170–71; on use of placentas, 192; on the wearing of masks, 102; on women’s funding of Komo chapter, 190–91
Ouattara, Tayirigué, 59
Ouattara, Tiédourougo Marie, 187
Ouattara, Tiotio, 192–93
Ouattara, Touba: and the family Komo chapter, 252n16; and French military service, 135, 250n62; as Komo leader, 82; rivalry with Bembèlê Traoré, 90–91, 128; travel with power object, 135; use of pension received by, 162, 170, 252n16
Ouattara Komo chapter: founding of, 190–91; interaction with women by, 187; leadership of, 102, 135; rivalry with nearby chapter, 90–91; Touba Ouattara’s support of, 162–63, 252n16. See also Ouattara, Do; Ouattara, Touba
Oyěwùmí, Oyèrónké, 191
Panh, Rithy, 200, 201, 211, 260n22
Pataux, Agnès, 131; “Le fétiche Kabolaa,” 130
patronage, leaders’ obscuring of details in, 126
Pearlstein, Ellen, 44
performances: animal sacrifice in, 143, 165; as assemblages of knowledge, 223; attraction of international audiences to, 169, 253n29; author’s note as part of, 155; Bangali Komo chapter performance in Sokouraba, 185–86; chapter protections allowing women to view, 181; common features in, 158; consequences of unauthorized viewing of, 182–83, 255n14; creation and purpose of, 92–93; engagement of unseen audiences with, 175, 184–85; entertainment from, 27, 147; experiences of being prohibited from, 178–81; female audiences and, 50–51; fire in, 142, 165; funding for, 162, 163; interaction with the audience in, 33, 50, 147, 155–56; length and staging of, 164–66; parades, 165; planning of, 162; prohibitions regarding, 171–72, 181; public secrets in, 157; scheduling of, 163–64; specificity of contexts and variation in, 161–62, 163, 164; stories shared by people about, 167; and thwarting of threats during, 158, 166. See also masquerades
performers: attention to audiences by, 147, 148, 166, 175, 184; attention to audiences’ well-being by, 154; audience behavior demanded by, 157–58; demonstration of their authority to audiences, 155; stories and reputation of, 167–68. See also masqueraders
Petridis, Constantine, xvii, 240n52, 251n8
plant matter: in assemblages, 245n10; as essential to power association arts, 116; Komo versus Kono arts, 103; used in smoking and soaking objects, 133
political posters, 54, 55, 234n1
politics in West Africa, 169, 253n31
porcupine quills, 125, 130, 131
poro (Poro), 68–69, 70, 235n5, 237n28, 243n69
power: absorption of material properties and, 133, 206; in boundaries between visibility and invisibility, 132; and capacity to effect change, 57, 58; to harm, 11, 41, 91–92, 158, 166, 202, 249n45; procurement procedures’ contribution to, 124
power association arts: attribution through visual properties, 99–102, 104; classification as Bamana or Mande, 144; as declarations of specialists’ knowledge and skill, 128; distinction through unseen properties, 102–4; documentation of, 113, 118, 145; indeterminacy, flux, and process in, 97–98, 109; and interaction with audiences, 96–97; interrelation among, 135–36; obscurity in, 53, 234n64; as phenomena, 145; plant matter in, 116; tension between visibility and invisibility in, 4, 5, 134, 205, 206, 214; as traditional or classical arts, 227n4. See also installations; performances; power objects
power association chapters: and building construction, 159; buying of, 86–87; funding for, 162–63; growth and decline of, 90; importance of women to, 190, 192; installation of new chapters, 87, 190–91, 192, 243n70; marrying into, 86–87; relationships with other chapters, 87, 89, 191; stories and effectiveness of, 167
power association houses, 4, 6, 87, 88–89, 129, 135–36, 159, 160–61, 191–92
power associations: and arts that effect change, 3; as Bamana or Mande organizations, 18, 21–22, 23, 46–47, 60, 61, 67, 72, 74, 98; as beyond cultural or ethnic delineations, 26, 222; colonial accounts of, 61–67; competition and rivalry among, 13, 14; description and importance of, 6, 222; as “fetishes,” 59–60; fostering of power and knowledge by, 71–72; histories of, 61, 72, 78, 222; intersection with Islam, 83–85; inventories of, 60; key themes in, 52; networks of exchange of, 31; new approaches to understanding, 18–19, 22, 53; observers’ accounts on, 10; oral knowledge dissemination about, 45–46; politicians’ leveraging of, 11, 13; reach beyond local spheres, 56; scholars’ understanding of, 8–10; terms for, 47; as “traditional,” 13; transcendence of borders by, 145; use of term, 57, 234n3; variability of chapters within, 67. See also Ciwara; competition and exchange; gender dynamics and complexities; hunters’ associations; knowledge; Komo; Kono; Nama; Nya; performances; power; power association arts; power objects; scholarship on African arts; secrecy; specialists and leaders; Wara; women
power objects: agency of, 97; assumptions about, 98–99; boliw as, 4; bovine-shaped objects, 2, 9, 46; classification through visual properties, 99–101; Colin’s identification of, 90; conflicting attributions for, 99, 101; disappearance of, 83, 241n56; disassembly of, 8, 47, 96, 97, 145, 227n5; energies in and among, 135, 205, 206; as “fetishes,” 96; films as, 212, 219; helmet masks and helmet mask–shaped objects, 48–49, 73; importance of process in, 4; interaction with viewers, 96; and l’eau do Moussa, 82; as markers of expertise, 102; meaning and contexts of creation and use, 104; Mecca as source of, 84; pestles, 204, 205–6, 214, 215, 261n25; potency of, 96; relationship with other assemblages, 145; safekeeping of photographs of, 244n6; and scavenger birds, 112; scene depicting making of, 207–8; secrecy in, 41, 44; speaking and nonspeaking, 58; stories about and specialists’ success, 167; technical analysis of, 44–45, 116, 234n62; as tools for change, 60, 96, 119, 205; and unseen objects, 171; zoomorphic mask–shaped object, 117. See also boliw; helmet masks and helmet mask–shaped objects; materials for assemblages
protection, use of power objects for, 74, 135, 203–4, 207–8, 238n35
Rarey, Matthew Francis, 245n11
Ravenhill, Philip L., 231n37
Rea, Will, 252n8
Rédo, Porgo, documentary of, 44
research methodologies: dealing with secrecy, 39, 40–45; in disseminating knowledge, 45–46; focus on specifics and complexity, 35–36; and human research consent and approvals, 39–40; interviews, 35–37, 36, 39, 40, 46; new frame of analysis in, 194; and protection of power associations’ secrecy, 39; use of earlier studies, 36
revelation: of an object’s elements, 5, 136; just and unjust revelation, 157. See also power objects
Richards, Polly, 180
Richter, Dolores, 21
Roberts, Martin, 262n29
Rockefeller, Nelson A., 113, 246n18
Rouch, Jean, 210
Rubin, Arnold, 3, 47, 57, 226n2
Saleeby, Khalil, 228n9
Sangaradugu (Mali), 6
Sangaré, Lamine, 75
Sangare, Noumousso, 185–86
Sanogo, Ntia, 74
Sanògò, Nyamanto, 52, 196, 213
Sarro, Flatié, 75
scavenger birds, 112
Scheid, Kirsten, 228n9
Scheper-Hughes, Nancy, 35
scholarship: as an unstable process, 224; citational practices, 23, 230n28; decisions and the historical record, 230n29; definition of, 221; guiding principles of, 224
scholarship on African arts: absence of women’s voices in accounts, 177; akin to knowledge building by power association leaders, 223; anonymity of informants in, 35, 35; assessments of Yeelen in, 197, 198; assumptions of primitiveness in, 8; attention to historical dynamism in, 20, 23–24, 31; attention to the particular in, 24, 156; choices in shaping the historical record, 230n29; colonial classifications of identity and, 18–19; critiques of, 10, 19–20, 228n9, 228n12; and cultural and ethnic classifications, xv; and cultural centers, 28–32; fieldwork in, 26; focus on collective identity in, 5, 10, 156, 251n8; human subjects consent in, 39; investigation of analytic frames in, 222; Lubet’s advice on ethnographic research, 33; “one tribe–one style” model in, 20–21, 22, 28; and organizational initiation, 42–43; on performances and audiences, 156; and research neutrality, 42; and specialists’ control of access to their work, 32–33; stagnation and multiple perspectives in, 21–22, 23, 26, 34–35; and subjectivity of knowledge in, xvii; terminologies, sources, and documentation practices in, 19–20, 23, 26–28, 104, 113; theory and real-world experience, 229n21; use of term spectators, 175. See also documentation; local-level histories; research methodologies
secrecy: in African arts, 5; as boundary marker, 5, 97, 132–33, 135; in details of patronage, 126; gendered nature of, 173–74; in key details regarding materials in power objects, 113–14; masks in performances and, 157; negative values of, 234n4; plant matter as restricted knowledge, 116; power association leaders’ expertise in, 40; relationship with African arts, 41; and revelations from silences, 44; two faces in, 135
Segy, Ladislas, 156
Seitz, William, The Art of Assemblage, 226n2
selfishness in rivalries, 211, 212
Senufo: ethnic identity of, 237n28; meaning of term, xv, 29; populations identified as, 74–75
Senufo languages, 16, 26, 28, 229n19, 232n39
Senufo-Mande cultural “frontier,” mind map of, xvi
Senufo Unbound (Gagliardi), xv, xvi, xvii, 224
Shonibare, Yinka, 260n19
Sidibé, Maliki, 63
Siegenthaler, Fiona, Critical Interventions (with Nzewi and Siegert), 228n12
Siegert, Nadine, Critical Interventions (with Siegenthaler and Nzewi), 228n12
Sikasso (Mali), 17, 32, 63, 74, 75–76, 79–83
silence: insights from, 44; Mande proverb about, 233n60
Simmel, Georg, 135
Sinématiali (Côte d’Ivoire), 82, 240n52
the social, creation of, 174–75, 194
Sokouraba (Burkina Faso): author’s study in, 34, 37, 71; Bangali Komo chapter in, 167, 185–86; borderlands concept and, 71; Christian community in, 170; economic contribution of, x, xi; geographic classification of, 16, 229n17; geography of, ix; interviewees in, 59; Kono chapters in, 87; linguistic diversity in, 16; location of, 17; marriage festivities in, 179; performance in, 131, 185–86; performers’ attention to calamities in, 148, 154; power association house in, 129, 160; religious activities in, 82. See also Ouattara Komo chapter
Solanke, Adeola, 199
soma, definition of, 259n4
sorcery, 91–92, 166, 243nn76–77
sound and music, importance of, 103
Souronto (Mali), 75
Soviet films, 199–200
specialists and leaders: aims of, 4, 11, 208, 243n76; attention to audiences by, 134, 148, 171; attention to their environments by, 210; and capacities to heal and to harm, 159, 202; caution in sharing expertise, 127, 144; challenges to authority of, 166, 168; comparison of filmmakers to, 217; concealment and revelation in arts of, 47, 87, 97; continual expansion of skills by, 90, 121, 123, 133; cultivation of networks by, 24, 31, 47, 55–56, 71, 87, 121, 125–27, 145; expertise of, 24, 125, 127, 205–6, 223; female leaders, 193; indirect communication by, 40–41; linguistic abilities of, 58, 87; personalization of power objects by, 123; pointy objects and, 129–30, 131–32; and the power of visual access, 18; prestige building through performances, 50; as primarily male, 57; research participation decisions by, 40; roles of, 57; selection of materials by, 104, 105, 111–12; sharing of stories and success of, 167–68; sorcery engaged by, 91–92; work with assemblages by, 4. See also animal sacrifice; competition and exchange; knowledge; masqueraders; performances; power objects; secrecy
Stein, Elliott, 262n29
Stein, Renée, 242n60
Stolper Galleries, 246n19
“striptease of hidden presence” (Taussig), 95–96
Strother, Z. S., 34–35, 36, 115, 157, 204–5; Theories of Masquerading, 252n10
students and apprentices, 127
Taussig, Michael, 4, 95–96, 135, 157, 201
Tauxier, Louis, 63, 65–66, 147, 173–74, 193–94, 236n20, 244n2
television broadcast of secret knowledge, 43, 44
theater, etymology of, 175
three-corner region: definition and use of term, 24; French colonial influence in, 31; map of, 25
Tiguini (Mali), 17
Tilai (Ouedraogo 1990), 198
Tonkin, Elizabeth, 157, 179, 180
Touré, Amadou Toumani, 199
Touziana (Burkina Faso), 17, 243n1
Trachtenberg, Marvin, 246n15
Traoré, Anne-Marie, 121, 181–82
Traoré, Drissa, 55, 85–86, 170–71, 182
Traoré, Gnatio, 177
Traoré, Ibrahim, 91, 92, 163, 176
Traoré, Kakoni, 162
Traoré, Konomba, 191–92
Traoré, Lamina (Tientigui), 40
Traoré, Lassina Nestor Zanga, 258n44
Traoré, Mamina, 255n8
Traoré, Mélégué: about, 55, 121; on donations to performances, 253n29; invitation to Gabon’s president, 11; Kono and, 155, 163; political success and Kono chapter success, 169, 234n1; prominence of, 181
Traoré, Moukanitien: on bundles on a helmet mask, 133, 134; and discretion with carvers, 126; on Kono chapter in Sokouraba, 87; on performances in the rainy season, 163; wife and daughter of, 177; on women as original owners of Komo and Kono, 189–90
Traoré, Nampé, 34
Traoré, Navon, 169
Traoré, Ninjalé, 124
Traoré, Sebou Mathieu, 258n44
Traore, Sedu, 107
Traoré, Sita, 193
Traoré, Tchipé, 177
Traoré, Tchiwolo, 177
Traoré, Tiblé (dahaba Ouattara’s mother), 179, 187–88
Traoré, Tiblé (elder woman), 178
Traoré, Wonou, 181
Traoré Banakourou, Ibrahim, 40–41, 103, 112, 248n33, 259n2, 261n25, 261n28
Traoré Kono chapter (Bougoula, Burkina Faso), 163, 169
Travélé, Moussa, 42, 66, 236n20, 245n13, 255n14, 259n4
Trexler, Richard, 18
Turner, Victor, 252n8
“Tyiwara de Ngana, et le Maître du culte” (photograph), 76, 77
Ukadike, N. Frank, 197
University of California, Los Angeles, 39
unseen and unseeing audiences: and academic assessments of women’s agency, 188; appropriate behavior for, 185–86, 188, 257n25; audio experience of, 185–87, 188, 194; contribution to Komo and Kono performances by, 184–85, 194, 222; definition of, 176; description of, 50–51; and performances’ soundscapes, 185, 186–87; performers’ attention to, 187
villages: and assumptions of homogeneity, 16; as harmonious, 13–15; instability in definitions of, 16; use of term village, 14–15, 229n17
Vogel, Susan, 19, 20, 24, 26, 184–85, 227n4
Vsesoyuznyi Gosudarstvenyi Institut Kinematografii (VGIK), 200
Walker, Roslyn, 242n60
Wara: in Colin’s reports, 90; fire associated with, 124, 162, 172, 184; Karfa Coulibaly and, 136–37; perceived threat during performance of, 166; power association houses of, 7, 161; prominence of, 60; and speaking power objects, 58; women’s attendance at performances of, 169, 172, 173, 254n35
West Africa, dynamism of human settlements in, 15
West African arts: power associations as patrons of, 6; as “traditional,” 13
Willis, John Thabiti, 156–57, 256n23
Woll, Josephine, 200
women: attendance at performances, 165, 172; complexity in relationship with Komo and Kono, 173–74; contributions to power associations by, 51, 57, 174, 183, 193–94, 222, 258n44; importance of procreative potential to Kono and Komo, 183–84, 189; as important unseen audiences, 172, 194, 222; as original owners of Komo and Kono, 189–90; power of, 189–93; range of experience in wielding agency, 188–89, 194; restrictions on visual access to power arts, 50, 171–72, 173, 176, 194; roles in creating the social, 175; songs insulting men, 179
worldviews as situational and personal, ix, xiv
Yaya, Bangali, 59
Yeelen (Cissé 1987), 51; author’s first viewings of, 258n2; challenges faced while making, 213, 263n43; comedic moments in, 205–6; comparisons to 2001: A Space Odyssey, 262n29; documentaries on making of, 52, 196, 260n22; earlier versions of, 261n26; father-son rivalry in, 51, 196, 210–11; filming at Bandiagara Escarpment for, 210; healing and intentions to cause harm in, 202–8; homage to Sar in, 263n42; initiation in, 211, 218–19; international audiences for, 198, 258n2; and knowledge about Komo, 51–52, 198, 201; lack of masks and masqueraders in, 206; as Malian film, 199; perseverance in, 213–14; perspective on power associations in, 195, 222; primary audience for, 197–98; Prix du Jury award for, 196, 259n5; resonance with Cissé’s personal experience in, 212; scenes from, 203, 205, 206, 207, 207; symbolism in, 209; tensions around seeing and not seeing in, 52, 194, 196, 217, 218, 219; use of light in, 214–19, 215–19
Zahan, Dominique, The Bambara, 68, 69
“Zanké and the Kono boli fetish” (photograph), 106
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