African Arts Gallery

This statuette of maternity, a female effigy seated on a stool, breastfeeding her child, is represented with braids assembled in a stylized pattern. This sculpted scene generally symbolizes the initiate feeding on the knowledge of the mother goddess. Irregular blackish patina, satin, erosions.
The Senufos , a name given to them by the French colonists, are mostly composed of farmers who are scattered between Mali, the Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso. Councils of elders, led by an elected chief, administer the Senufo villages. Governed by matrilineal traditions, they are composed of clusters of dwellings named katiolo .
At the time of the death of one of the members of the Poro initiation society, statues named pombibele were exhibited. Although exclusively male, the Poro society in fact pays homage through these statues to the supposed founder of the sinzanga The female sandogo society, for its part, manages divination in order to appease the spirits of the bush, and also has statues. The deble statues, used by diviners, feature bush spirits in human form. These spirits receive offerings in exchange for protection against all types of plagues.