Komo Kun (“Head of Komo”), Bamana, Mali. Wood, resin, feathers, quills, fibers, animal hair. (Photo: artSTOR)
The Komo Kun is a mask for the Komo masquerade. It is a wooden mask made from an assortment of materials, intended to look like an animal but not resemble one. The Komo Kun mask is then caked with mysterious materials to intimidate the audience of their knowledge of these materials. The materials used also contain nyama, which again, is a mysterious force that evokes power.
The accumulation of the nyama forces through the mysterious materials shows the power held in this mask[1]. When a masquerader empowers a properly prepared Komo Kun, the dancer empowers the ability through the mask to perceive and destroy evil. The Komo Kun becomes a mobile boli that shows the effect of power through accumulation of nyama.
[1] Monica Visona, Robin Poynor, and Herbert Cole, A History of Art in Africa, (New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2008), 120-121.
The Komo Kun is a mask for the Komo masquerade. It is a wooden mask made from an assortment of materials, intended to look like an animal but not resemble one. The Komo Kun mask is then caked with mysterious materials to intimidate the audience of their knowledge of these materials. The materials used also contain nyama, which again, is a mysterious force that evokes power.
The accumulation of the nyama forces through the mysterious materials shows the power held in this mask[1]. When a masquerader empowers a properly prepared Komo Kun, the dancer empowers the ability through the mask to perceive and destroy evil. The Komo Kun becomes a mobile boli that shows the effect of power through accumulation of nyama.
[1] Monica Visona, Robin Poynor, and Herbert Cole, A History of Art in Africa, (New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2008), 120-121.