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Lot Essay
Les Sénufo sont un peuple d’agriculteurs dont la vie communautaire s’articule autour de la chefferie, véritable pilier de leur organisation sociale. Le village, perçu comme un havre d’ordre et d’harmonie, s’oppose à la brousse, territoire indompté et peuplé d’esprits invisibles nommés ndebele. Cette dichotomie fonde l’importance du devin, ce dernier jouant le rôle de médiateur entre les vivants, les ancêtres et les génies, assisté de sculptures votives appelées tugubele. Rites, offrandes et autres gestes propitiatoires aux tugubele visent à préserver l’équilibre qui unit les hommes à ces forces invisibles.
Empreintes d’une patine croûteuse, ces figures tugubele d’une pureté formelle s’élèvent avec une élégance archaïque, évoquant une temporalité suspendue.
Pour un exemplaire similaire, voir celui de l’ancienne collection Henri Kamer publié dans Gagliardi, S., Senufo Unbound. Dynamics of Art and Identity in West Africa, Milan, 2014, p. 222, n° 170.
The Senufo are an agrarian people whose communal life revolves around the institution of chieftaincy, a true cornerstone of their social organization. The village, conceived as a haven of order and harmony, stands in stark contrast to the bush - a wild, untamed expanse inhabited by invisible spirits known as ndebele. This dichotomy underscores the essential roles of the diviner, the latter serving as an intermediary between the living, the ancestors, and the spirits, aided by votive sculptures called tugubele. Rituals, offerings, and other propitiatory acts directed toward the tugubele aim to preserve the fragile balance that binds humankind to these unseen forces.
Encrusted with a timeworn patina, these formally pure tugubele figures rise with an archaic elegance, evoking a suspended temporality.
For a comparable example, see the piece from the former Henri Kamer collection, published in Gagliardi, S., Senufo Unbound. Dynamics of Art and Identity in West Africa, Milan, 2014, p. 222, no. 170.
Empreintes d’une patine croûteuse, ces figures tugubele d’une pureté formelle s’élèvent avec une élégance archaïque, évoquant une temporalité suspendue.
Pour un exemplaire similaire, voir celui de l’ancienne collection Henri Kamer publié dans Gagliardi, S., Senufo Unbound. Dynamics of Art and Identity in West Africa, Milan, 2014, p. 222, n° 170.
The Senufo are an agrarian people whose communal life revolves around the institution of chieftaincy, a true cornerstone of their social organization. The village, conceived as a haven of order and harmony, stands in stark contrast to the bush - a wild, untamed expanse inhabited by invisible spirits known as ndebele. This dichotomy underscores the essential roles of the diviner, the latter serving as an intermediary between the living, the ancestors, and the spirits, aided by votive sculptures called tugubele. Rituals, offerings, and other propitiatory acts directed toward the tugubele aim to preserve the fragile balance that binds humankind to these unseen forces.
Encrusted with a timeworn patina, these formally pure tugubele figures rise with an archaic elegance, evoking a suspended temporality.
For a comparable example, see the piece from the former Henri Kamer collection, published in Gagliardi, S., Senufo Unbound. Dynamics of Art and Identity in West Africa, Milan, 2014, p. 222, no. 170.