Unidentifiable menacing creatures were created by the Senufo to detect and destroy what normal humans cannot see. Completely encased by the helmet and looking out through the barbed teeth, performers wore loose fitting costumes and lunged around with abrupt movements. Some were known to unleash swarms of wild bees as a special effect to ward off disruptors.
Wood
14 1/2 x 11 x 22 in. (36.8 x 28 x 55.9 cm)
Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company
81.17.266
Provenance: Collection of Wayne Long, Los Angeles, California; sold to Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, 1975; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1981
Now on view at the
Seattle Art Museum
Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.
