Mask Showing Sigi, the Buffalo

Date

late 20th century

Creator

This is an example of a Bozo puppet mask. The puppet theater is, in part, intended to unify Malian villages through a celebration of participants’ shared heritage, and the spectacle is associated closely with the agricultural cycle. In the Ségou region of Central Mali, the puppet theater happened twice annually—once in May or early June directly prior to the rainy season, which is the planting season, and again in October, associated with the first field harvest and the first fishing harvest. This puppet mask depicts Sigi, the buffalo. The buffalo is a fairly common occurrence in these plays, and serves as a metaphor for history, group solidarity, and the continuity of tradition.