Bamana Zoomorphic Mask for the Korè Association, Mali

The artist that created this powerful mask intended to evoke fear and submission in the viewer – as was the ritual purpose of surukuw, or hyena masks, which were worn in kore, a Bamana male initiation ceremony. The present mask is of impressive volume, with a large mouth gaping open in menacing laughter. Surukuw masks are distinguished by the pronounced protrusion of the rounded forehead and cranial ridge on the top of the head, and oblong geometric face, with gaping circular or rectangular eyes; for a classic example, see Jean-Paul Colleyn, Bamana: The Art of Existence in Mali, New York, 2001, p. 119, cat. no. 104.

Kore functions as an initiation ceremony, but it also “is included among the rites that influence the natural cycle, for kore masters boast of being able to appeal directly to the heavens, the divine supplication par excellence, in order to make it rain. Formerly, when rain was abundant, they were able conversely to end storms that were threatening to overwhelm farmers in their fields” (Jean-Paul Colleyn, Visions of Africa: Bamana, 2008, p. 28).