ARTHIST 345-01/AAAS 348-01/ICS 223-01/AFRICAN ART: FROM ROYAL COURT TO CONTEMPORARY MARKETPLACE

Introduction to the Arts & Aesthetics of Sierra Leone & Liberia, with a focus on Sowei

Monday, February 24

Left: Sapo National Park, Liberia. Right: Coastal Liberia, Nitien (Water spirit), 19th century or earlier. Brass.

Above left: Jorge de Aguiar, Detail of a chart of the Mediterranean, Western Europe, and the African Coast, 1492. Below left: Sierra Leone coast with Sugar Loaf mountains to the east.

Upper left: Jodocus Hondius, Map of Guinee, circa 1620. Lower left: Jan Kips, Map of the Coast of Guinea and Bay of Sierra Leona, 1732.

Clockwise from left: Tellem peoples, Mali, Fragment of a blanket, 11th century CE. Cotton; Mende weaver operating a tripod loom, Sierra Leone, early 20th century.Mande-speaking peoples, Either Sierra Leone or Liberia, Three bolts of “Country cloth,” 20th

century. Cotton.

Clockwise from lower left: Members of the BunduSecret Society (seated woman wearing a silver amulet), 1910. Photograph. Members of the Poro Secret Society with “Binni devils”, 1910. Photograph. Map showing location of ethnic groups where Sande/Bundu is practiced.

Left: Temne peoples (Sierra Leone), Female figure, late 19th/early 20th

century. Wood, cloth, beads, cowrie shells, buttons, fiber. Center: Dan peoples (Liberia or Cote d’Ivoire), Deangle mask, early 20th century. Wood, pigment, cowrie shells. Right: Mende or Sherbro peoples (Sierra Leone), Sowei or Humui mask, late 19th century/early 20th century. Wood, metal, pigment.

Left: Sapi-Portugeuse (Sierra Leone), Salt cellar, 1490-1530. Ivory. Above: Unknown peoples (Sierra Leone), Nomoli, 15th-17th century. Steatite.

Left: Temne villagers surrounding nowo,Sierra Leone, 1976.

Left: Rebecca Busselle, Mende women surrounding ndoli jowei, Sierra Leone, 1970s. Right: Postage stamp featuring Bundu mask, 1961.

Mende peoples, Ndoli jowei leading a group of sande initiates and members, Sierra Leone.

Mende peoples, Ndoli jowei dancing in a public setting, Sierra Leone, 1980s.

Examples of sowei and their assorted characteristics and visual elements.

Left: Mende peoples (Sierra Leone), Helmet mask (sowei), 20th century. Wood, pigment. Below: Singer & performer Lizzo.

Left: Mende peoples, Sande initiates and members alongside ndoli jowei, Sierra Leone, 1959. Right: Mendepeoples, Sande members teaching initiates the society’s songs and dances, Sierra Leone, 1980s.

Upper right: Mende peoples, Sandemembers alongside ndoli jowei, Sierra Leone, 1980s. Lower right: Mende peoples, Newly installed Sande members after undergoing initiation, Sierra Leone, 1980s.

Upper left: Mende peoples (Sierra Leone), Postcard showing newly installed Sandemembers alongside ndoli jowei, Sierra Leone, 1910s. Lower left: Mende peoples, Sande initiates in the bush, Sierra Leone, 1980s.

Vai peoples (Northwestern Liberia, Southeastern Sierra Leone)

Vai-Gola peoples (West/Northwestern Liberia & Southeastern Sierra Leone)

Sherbro-Bullom peoples (Coastal Sierra Leone)

Kpa-Mende peoples (Western branch) (Central Sierra Leone)

Sewa-Mende peoples (Central branch) (Central Sierra Leone)

Ko-Mende peoples (Eastern branch) (Central Sierra Leone)

Temne peoples (Northwestern Sierra Leone)

Bassa peoples (Southwestern Central Liberia)