Chi Wara Headdress

Origin: Mali
People: Bamana / Bambara
Identity: Chi Wara / Tji Wara

Chi Wara headdresses are perhaps the best known of Bamana artworks. The vertical style of Chi Wara is the most famous, having become an icon of 'primitive art' in the early 20th century, when its highly stylised form captured the imagination of artists such as Picasso and Braque.

The Chi Wara is a combination of antelope and aardvark (African anteater). In Bamana mythology, the antelope gave the first grain to humans, and taught them how to till the soil; whilst the aardvark is admired for its quick and skilled burrowing (Hahner-Herzog et. al., 1998).

These headresses are used during festivities to ensure the fertility of the fields; agriculture being one of the mainstays of Bamana life.

The Bamana also make a horizontal form of the Chi Wara, which is less common, and specific to the region around Bamako and northwestern Mali (Hahner-Herzog et. al., 1998).

The headdress pictured above is stylistically typical of the horizontal Chi Wara. The carving is mounted onto a woven basket cap, used to affix the headress to the wearer's head. The elements of the carving - in this example, the body, head, horns and figure - are carved separately and then fitted together. This is unusual for African carvings, which are mostly carved from a single piece of wood.

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REFERENCES

BACQUART, JB (2000): The Tribal Arts of Africa (Thames & Hudson, London)

HAHNER-HERZOG, I; KECSKESI, M & VAJDA, L (1998): African Masks from the Barbier Mueller Collection (Prestel, Munich)