The West African Mask
As sculptural, aesthetic, and museum-worthy that the mask may be, it cannot, and was never meant to, stand on its own, at least in traditional West Africa. It is but …
Category: Mythos
The mystical, cosmological narrative that grounds each culture in an otherwise mysterious universe.
Those with Feet-in-Reverse and Other Fantastical Beings
There is a certain beguiling artistry to having backwards feet. This rather anomalous attribute ―demarcating, droll, and devious ― is much-vaunted in the legendary creature realm and happens to be …
Bògòlanfini, the Mythos behind Mudcloth
It was through the harnessing of natural materials ― the iron-rich mud of river-beds, the extracts of leaves, bark, and roots, and the energy of the intense West African sunlight …
The Weaver
Somewhere in the Futa Tooro region of Senegal, a Tukolor weaver, or mabube, reenacts an ancient ritual. He gathers his loom parts — pulley, wheel, shuttle, beater that have been …