Ci Wara Research Paper

The Ci Wara crest or “mask” is a black wooden crest that is about 23 inches tall. The Bamana people in Mali, Western Sudan, wear this crest. The crests are sits on top of the head of the performer in a dance that involves women singing songs that praise the spirit Chiwara, the ideal farmer. The head and the body of the dancer are covered with a costume. The dancers imitate the leaps and bounds of the antelope while the young farmers in the community hoe the ground. This crest is displayed as a pair, female and male because they represent the production of a new generation and the sun and earth to produce crops. The crest is small and delicate and is uniformly covered with a thick layer of soot from kitchen fires in which it was stored. The