Description:

Chiwara headdresses, made by the Bambara/Bamana group of Mali, are categorized in three ways: horizontal, vertical, or abstract.
This pair is in the horizontal/Bamako style from the Northern region. Attached to a basketware base, and worn with a raffia costume, and danced to pray for a bountiful harvest.
The name “chiwara” means “laboring wild animal” and refers to a half-man, half antelope that was born of Mousso Koroni (a sky goddess) and an earth spirit in the form of a cobra. Chiwara then taught the Bamana how to farm, and is worshipped accordingly. The headcrests are designed to represent the roan antelope, in varying degrees of abstraction.