The African tribes, such as the Bambara, preferred
to think of the spirits of their ancestors collectively
rather than in terms of separate individuals. This is
the result of the animism that underlies their
religious beliefs. Such religious beliefs have been
termed animism because they believed that a spirit
exists in every living thing. Spirits dwell in the earth,
in rivers and lakes, in the rain, in the sun and moon;
still others demand to be appeased in order to
promote fertility or cure disease. Their dwelling
places may be given the shape of human figures,
such as this glorious human figure of mother and
child. In this case, such spirits sometimes achieve
enough of a stable identity to be viewed as
rudimentary deities. This seems to be true of the
very fine mother and child figure from Mali. She
definitely represents the strongly revered fertility
spirits. The Bambara would dance and act out
similar dramatic ceremonies to appease this deity in
order to promote fertility. The mother sits upon a
stool, the penultimate symbol of authority
throughout Africa. She wears a helmet-like
headdress from which her sinuous locks of hair fall
down and touch her predominant full breasts. Her
child is nestled at her abdomen clinging to her torso
in a tight hug. The mother exchanges the warm
gesture by placing her arm (the other having broken
off) against the child’s back. We feel the thrill of
birth through this spectacular figure and the great
emotional intensity of dances and ceremonies
remains imbued in the powerful appearance of this
carving today.
- (PF.6020)
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