For 9/26: The Beginning of Research on the Bamana Figure.

This is my figure:

As far as its features, style components, and aesthetic, it is difficult for to know where to start, as I have never done close examination of artistic artifacts before -- but here goes:

The figure appears to be carved wood. I would describe its features as detailed yet minimalist. The head and neck of the female figure are both enlarged and elongated; its torso is elongated and thin, and its hands are seemingly featureless. What appears to be a coiffure is textured with parallel lines. Its legs seem short and its hips wide, even as the figure appears to stand in a squatting position.

As far as the face goes, the nose and nasal ridge seem to protrude exceedingly. The figure appears to be sporting a nose ring. The eyes, though small, are distinguished as the only lighter-colored feature on the statuette.

The breasts and belly-button are conical, and while the breasts are proportionally small, the belly-button seems proportionally large. Both are adorned with convex dot-markings, which the Metropolitan Museum of Art explained could refer to “scarification marks once made to beautify adolescent Bamana women.”

An interesting feature is the v-shaped indentation between the legs, which seems to refer to something involving reproduction.

Two ankles and 1 wrist are adorned with red beaded bracelets, but it is hard to tell from looking at it how of from what these were fashioned. The wristband looks like it was tied with some sort of hemp-like string, and the beads appear to be painted wood, but I cannot be completely sure.

Overall, the figure seems very idealized. I look forward to finding more explanations about the various features.

I have chosen to compare my figure to the following figure, found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art:

Female Figure, 19th–20th century Bamana peoples; Mali Wood, metal
Source:Female Figure [Bamana peoples; Mali] (1978.412.347) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

A great deal of information about the piece was gleaned from its description: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1978.412.347

Materialistically, the two objects seem quite different, as mine is completely wooden and this one seems to be partly metal (perhaps only the nose ring?); in any case, the two woods are of a different texture and coloration. The postures of the two are different; the Met's figure seems to be standing taller and more prominently than the seemingly more-relaxed figure I am studying. The coiffure on the Met's figure seems more detailedly decorated, the eyes protrude, and the nasal ridge is thinner. The hands and feet are extremely large and prominent, in very stark contrast to the hands and feet on my figure. The scarification markings and breasts on both, though, are similar. In general, I would call the Met's figure more elaborate and less minimalist than mine; yet the Met figure lacks the variety of the added colored jewelry.

In terms of sources that I plan to use during my research, I have begun compiling the following list:

• Art of the Bamana of Mali, by George A. Corbin

http://siris-libraries.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=13169MF92K147.80103&profile=liball&source=~!silibraries&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!510238~!2&ri=4&aspect=subtab103&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Bamana.+aat&index=PSUBJ&uindex=&aspect=subtab103&menu=search&ri=4&limitbox_1=LA01+=+Englis

• Sculpture of the Bamana, by Kate Ezra

http://siris-libraries.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1N16988EF1805.81410&profile=liball&source=~!silibraries&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!527597~!5&ri=2&aspect=subtab103&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Bamana.+aat&index=PSUBJ&uindex=&aspect=subtab103&menu=search&ri=2&limitbox_1=LA01+=+English

• The Bamana World, by Pascal James Imperato

http://siris-libraries.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1N16988EF1805.81410&profile=liball&source=~!silibraries&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!757994~!6&ri=2&aspect=subtab103&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Bamana.+aat&index=PSUBJ&uindex=&aspect=subtab103&menu=search&ri=2&limitbox_1=LA01+=+English

• A Human Ideal in African Art: Bamana Figurative Sculpture, by Kate Ezra

http://holliscatalog.harvard.edu/?itemid=|library/m/aleph|000500390

• Bamana: The Art of Existence in Mali, ed. by Jean-Paul Colleyn

http://holliscatalog.harvard.edu/?itemid=|library/m/aleph|008849391

I intend for this list to expand as I learn more about this subject.

Map Overlay - Bamana

The Bamana Empire controlled much of Southern Mali in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Reflection on Dogon lecture

Our discussion of the Dogon challenged notions of ethnicities and isolation of ethnicity, and this is what most interested me about the discussion. If the Dogon are a population of amalgamated peoples who fled from persecution by the state of Mali, how long was it until they went from being a community to being a definitive "tribe" or "ethnic group"? These are terms that I would appreciate discussing and clarifying -- what is the definition of a "tribe", and how is it different from an "ethnic" group, a population, a culture, a community, or a race? Furthermore, what is the evidence of cultural overlap between them in their art?

I was also interested in the evidence that Dogon art supplies regarding early African interaction with Europeans. For me this recalled previous studies, particularly with Professor Abilola Irele in his class "Africa: Between Tradition and Modernity." Telling works by authors like Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe provide literature's perspective on these early interactions, and it is interesting therefore to see it from art's angle.

As we move from culture to culture throughout the course of this class, the challenge for me, I think, will be recalling the lessons from cultures past and realizing the thematic relations between them. Once our second lecture began, I realized that this would be the case, and I look forward to determining the related significances in everything we learn.

My Adopted Object

Standing female ancestor figure; Peabody Number 975-12-50/11813

A Bamana figure from Mali