Bambara Marionette - Yayoroba / Sprit of Women Figure

Bambara Marionette - Mali

Bamana - Bozo - Marka - Markala - Somono

Yayoroba - 'Sprit of Women'

Important Jiri Maanin figure of the traditional Tyeko theater.

This marionette was acquired from Lionel Finneran (1940 - 2011), who purchased it from Vittorino Meneghelli 1915 - 2010), author of La Mia Vita La Mia - My Life My Collection. Meneghelli purchased this in the field from a set of theatrical figures he encountered during the late 1970's or early 1980's. In over one hundred trips to the West African region, this was the oldest, most sculptural marionette he ever found. Her name is yayoroba and she is the foremost important personality of Bambara and related theatre. Yayoroba sculpture represents the pinnacle of Bambara marionette art form.

Jiri Maanin (little wooden people) Tyeko (thing of men)

The youth of the Bambara, Bozo, Somon and Marka (Markala) living along the Bani River and the Niger River in West-Central Mali, traditionally engage in a theatre known as Sogo bo, which forms a part of 'ton' youth group association activates. 'Ton' are primarily organized social fraternities and sororities that concern themselves with village entertainment for the group's welfare. All the members of the ton are called ton deoun - which means children of the ton. When they perform with zoomorphic masks, they are called wara deoun - which means children of the animal. Ton represents but one component of a complex social structure that was developed to meet the needs of agrarian societies in Mali.

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Emotions in Motion - La Magie de l'Imaginaire - E. A. Dagan - 1990

Bambara Theatrical Figure

Yayoroba - 'Sprit of Women'

Above - an important Jiri Maanin figure (little wooden people) of the Tyeko (thing of men). Yayoroba appears in the performance as the physical, spiritual and behavioural ideal of women. Primarily she is danced by the Bamana, Bozo and Marka people who live in the Segou region, though neighbouring groups have also adopted her.

Yayoroba dances the dyoboli (a dance name) displaying feminine beauty. She represents an elegant woman who was extremely beautiful, graceful, and poised, of excellent character and happy temperament, healthy and well dressed. Yayoroba is worn over a concealed structure (below), to float above the heads of the crowd and can be as tall as 3 metres. She is dignified and beautiful, a symbol of female perfection to both men and women. Yayoroba not only represents female physical beauty, but also more importantly sets forth a standard for female spiritual and behavioural perfection.

African Arts - Vol. XXVII - Number 1 - Pages 60 / 61 - Circa 1971

Above, images from 'The Depiction of Beautiful Women in Malian Youth Association Masquerades' by Pascal James Imperato. Note an assistant guides yayoroba. Her slow - dignified movements are in keeping with the feminine ideal.

Puppets viewed on the Niger River - Circa 2000

The theatre plays out a fictional world, though based on the very real past - present and probable future. Cultural values and social relationships are presented to the pubic through dance, music, song and humour. The Ton passes on myths, legends, experience and knowledge based on the values and beliefs of the community.

Personalities that can be seen at ton other then yayoroba include well defined types such as the blind man, the dishonest Muslim cleric, the unfaithful husband and or wife, the debtor, the drunkard, the cripple and the manipulative politician. Together they are a vehicle for social criticism, the fundamental objective of youth theatre / ton.

Bambara marionettes of animal form are called Sogo, which literally means animal. They represent the animal itself, or animal forest sprits. Marionettes of human form are generally seen less. They are called Jiri Maanin meaning little wooden people. They represent ancestors or fictional characters depicting well-defined attributes and characters. Tyeko, literally 'thing of men', is another name for the masquerade that yayoroba dances in.

Confirming age, no less than two generations of paint layers are found on this yayoroba marionette. It was constructed in six sections. Breasts were applied firmly with the use of a tar-type beeswax substance and nails. They jut out 30 centimetres forward from the back of the body. The figure itself is + - 1 meter tall and stands at + - 107 centimetres with base.

Yayoroba - African Arts - Vol. XXVII - Number 1 - Page 59 - Circa 1971

The coiffure on yayoroba represents the appearance of Bambara and related women hairstyles prior to 1930. Cotton fibre draws attention to pierced ears - simulating the regions use of multiple earrings.

Twenty twenty-eight carved protruding lugs (fourteen to each side) represent beads or coins in the five-tier hairdo. Adding to the complicated figurative display, are abstract patterns and shapes painted in multiple colours on a black base.

Galerie Ezakwantu

Southern African Tribal Art - African Art

Central and Southern African Tribal Art

Art Africain 頂级菲洲艺术品中心 Afrikanische Kunst

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