Authentic African Chiwara sculpture

Chiwara (sometimes spelled Tyi Wara) are ritual sculptures created by the Bamana (sometimes spelled Bambara) people of modern Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Senegal.

For the Bamana, the Chiwara sculptures represent the hero-figure Chiwara - a half antelope, half human figure born from the union of the sky goddess Mousso Koroni and an earth spirit in the shape of a cobra. Chiwara is praised and remembered as the one who taught the Bamana how to farm and harvest the land.

Chiwara sculptures are used in traditional dance ceremonies during sowing and harvest festivals. Each wooden Chiwara figure is attached to a basket on the dancer's head, and the body covered in a huge pile of raffia. Often the face is obscured with raffia that has been colored or decorated, and the dancer carries a long staff.

The sculptures became one of the first african works of art widely known and highly acclaimed by european artists. They remain today one of the most easily recognized forms of traditional african art.

African art was always underrepresented in SL, hence I decided to provide you with this authenic Chiwara sculpture. It will make a great decorative addition to your home, flat, museum or club.

*NOTE* The original object was a sculptie, but it was converted to mesh. This is now a finished Mesh 3D sculpture. If you purchased the proiduct in 2017 oe earlier, please use the redelivery button to get the mesh version.