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Special Exhibitions | |
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Gallery of Sub-Saharan African Art |
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Gallery of Sub-Saharan African Art
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Curator's Highlight Tour
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Mother-and-child figure
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Mother-and-child figure Among the Fodonon Senufo subgroup, mother-and-child figures are related to the female Tyekpa association and play a role in funerary ceremonies in which they are carried on the participating women’s heads.The four-legged stool on which the figure sits is much easier to balance on the heads of the dancing women. However, among the Central Senufo, similar female figures were used as stationary display sculpture for the male Poro society. In the context of the Poro and its female counterpart, mother-and-child figures probably refer to “Ancient Mother,” the central deity of the Poro initiation cycle. She is responsible for the protection and instruction of the initiates, which are her “children,” nursing them with the milk of knowledge and thus transforming them into perfect human beings. Page 3 of 9 | On the next page: Serpent headdress |
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