Marionette Figure

Among the Bamana, brightly painted and costumed puppets are used to stage performances for the village youth association to teach lessons related to the social and political life of the community. The puppets dance across a small, mobile stage constructed out of cloths and grasses to conceal the actors who animate them. The performance is often accompanied by songs and masked performers who dance alongside the puppets. This marionette figure is defined by an elaborate crested hairstyle, high forehead, painted face, long neck, and pointed breasts. The bottom half of the sculpture represents the handle that the actor would have held and that would have remained invisible to the audience during performances.

Although Bamana farmers and Bozo fishermen participate in these performances today, it is likely that the puppet theater originated among the Bozo, descendants of the medieval Ghana Empire and possibly among the earliest inhabitants of the region.