chi wara headdress, unrecorded Bamana artist

Artwork Overview

unrecorded Bamana artist, chi wara headdress
unrecorded Bamana artist, chi wara headdress
unrecorded Bamana artist
chi wara headdress
early-mid 1900s
unrecorded Bamana artist, artist
chi wara headdress, early-mid 1900s
Where object was made: Mali
Material/technique: staining; carving; wood
Dimensions:
Object Height/Width/Length (Height x Width x Length): 78.5 x 7 x 22 cm
Object Height/Width/Length (Height x Width x Length): 30 7/8 x 2 3/4 x 8 11/16 in
Credit line: Gift of Larry W. Welling
Accession number: 2007.2805
Not on display
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Label texts

Exhibition Label:
"Time/Frame," Jun-2008, Robert Fucci, Shuyun Ho, Lauren Kernes, Lara Kuykendall, Ellen C. Raimond, and Stephanie Teasley
Chiwara is a mythical half-antelope creature who is celebrated for bringing knowledge of agriculture to the Bambara people of Mali in West Africa. Every harvest, they commemorate this event by having a pair of dancers, cloaked in raffia, dance in a manner reminiscent of the dance performed by Chiwara when he first taught them how to sow. These dances are performed with both male and female chiwara. This headdress represents a female, and the baby on her back is also female because she mirrors the mother’s form.

Exhibition Label:
"For Life's Sake: Arts from Africa," Oct-1983, Reinhild Kauenhoven Janzen
According to Bamana mythology the Tyi Wara (also spelled Chi Wara or Ci Wara) is a supernatural being, half man, half antelope, who taught men how to farm. The dance of the Tyi Wara is usually performed at the beginning of the planting season and again at harvest time, always by a male and a female carved crest, complete with masking costume. Its purpose is to encourage men to be good farmers and to honor those who are. The image of a small animal supported by a large animal usually connotes motherhood, and fertility in general. Perforations in noses and ears would have been decorated with colored string, metal rings. The dancer wears the Tyi Wara image securely tied to a fringed basketry cap which is, in turn, fastened to his head. Two different regional styles are represented in these two crests.

Exhibitions

Time/Frame
Spencer Museum of Art Interns 2007–2008, curator
2008
For Life's Sake: Arts from Africa
Reinhild Kauenhoven Janzen, curator
1983
The Object Speaks
Cassandra Mesick Braun, curator
Kate Meyer, curator
Celka Straughn, curator
2016–2021
Spencer Kids: Animal Tails (with audio descriptions)
2018
Spencer Kids: Animal Tails (with audio descriptions)
2020

Resources

Audio

Listen to core object information.
Audio Description
Listen to core object information.
Audio Description
The artist is one of the Bamana peoples. The work is called a chi wara headdress, created in the early to mid 1900s. This work is made with wood, staining, and carving.
Listen to Audio Description
Audio Description
Listen to Audio Description
Audio Description
This Chi Wara headdress carved from wood that shows a stylized female antelope carrying her baby, which stands on her back. The sculpture stands approximately three feet tall and the wood is very dark with an almost metallic sheen. The two stylized animals stand alert, with the larger animal’s horns dominating the headdress, rising straight up from the top of the head about two feet. There are shallow curving lines carved around each horn. The smaller antelope’s horns are only a few inches tall and are also carved with decorations. The horns rise from carved heads with rounded tops that taper toward the bottom. A flat uncarved nose dominates the front of the face. The rest of the head has a carved pattern of small white triangles on the dark wood separated by narrow carved lines. The larger animal’s legs form an open triangle as they meet the piece at the base of the headdress. The legs of the small animal on the back of the larger one connect with the larger torso.
Listen to App Text
Audio Description
Listen to App Text
Audio Description
Imagine the carved texture of this work. This is a chi wara headdress. It was made to be worn as part of a costume for a dance performed by the Bamana peoples in Mali, a country in Africa. Can you imagine dancing with this headdress tied onto your head? About the art The chi wara headdress depicts a mythical mother antelope and her baby, who is taking a ride on her back. In stories and dance, the female chi wara is always accompanied by a larger male chi wara (Tap the Related icon to see an image of a male chi wara headdress in the Museum’s collection). About the animal Chi wara are mythical half human, half antelope creatures inspired by the roan antelope that live on the savannah in northern Africa. The male roan antelope fight each other on their knees.

Links

See a photo of a roan antelope similar to this one