Bamana Power Figure (Boli) spindlewhorls Éva David & Mikkel Sorensen

Éva David & Mikkel Sorensen

101 Last Tribes

showcasing the distinctive artistic style and symbolic depth characteristic of Bura funerary art

and ritual systems with the Fon

while some incorporate phallic and breast motifs

Bamana Power Figure (Boli) spindlewhorls Éva David & Mikkel SorensenBamana people, early to mid 20th century, Mali, West Africa An exceptional aged power figure and ritual object, known as a boli, composed around a wooden or bamboo core and overmodeled with layers of powerful organic and symbolic substances mud, iron nails, cowrie shells, eggs, bird beaks, white cloth, ritual plants, bark, venom, chewed kola nuts, menstrual blood, urine, honey, beer, animal and human placentas, and excrement. Over time, sacrificial