Mossi Figures.
The Mossi people from Burkina Fasso create figures carved from wood for the Nakomse, their spiritual leaders. They can be adorned with jewelry or cloth as well. These figures are often put into dynamic poses. These poses are starkly different from others figures who are normally static. The idea behind the movement is that these figures are performing dances and rituals for the year-end sacrifice.[1] Then blessings will be bestowed upon them that are either good or bad. If someone were to own one of these Mossi figures it affirms the king’s or leader’s right to rule people. These idealized figures are symbols of how the Mossi leaders are seen by the community and how they hope they will lead.
Mossi, chief's figures display at annual chief's festival, Na Poosum, (Image and original data provided by Christopher D. Roy)
[1] Monica Blackmun Visonà, Robin Poynor, and Herbert M. Cole, A History of Art in Africa, (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education, Inc., 2008), 159.
Mossi, chief's figures display at annual chief's festival, Na Poosum, (Image and original data provided by Christopher D. Roy)
[1] Monica Blackmun Visonà, Robin Poynor, and Herbert M. Cole, A History of Art in Africa, (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education, Inc., 2008), 159.
