Spirit Mask Su - Burkina Faso/Ghana - Africa -

Spirit Mask On

Gurunsi (Grushi-Gourounsi-Jaman) (Nuna, Nunuma, Winiama, Léla, Sisala, Kaséna, Nankana, Kusasé)

Size 38 cm. Weighs 880 gr. Presumed era 70s/80s

 Under the name of Gurunsi, we can group together several peoples whose ethnic and artistic characteristics are very similar if not even common.

 Therefore, it is difficult if not impossible to attribute artistic and ethnographic products to a specific people, given the same archaic and traditional matrix.

Our research and studies lead us to believe that the mask presented here, quite rare, is from the Nuna people. (with special thanks to the Yale-Van Rijn Archive of African Art)                 

This small people borders the Bwa to the west and Ghana to the south, considering that all the peoples belonging to the Gurunsi are only 6% of the entire population of Burkina.

 The Gurunsi believe in a supreme being Yi, who withdrew from the world after creating it, and his altar in fact occupies the centre of the villages.

 Yi sent on his behalf the spirit Su, who, according to the Gurunsi, is embodied in all masks.

 Once the propitiatory rules are respected, Su will protect the family and the village, bringing health, fertility and prosperity.

 The masks in which the Su spirit is embodied, according to the Nuna, depict various animals, such as the snake, the crocodile, the buffalo, the antelope, the monkey and others.

 In reality, more than the concrete appearance of the mask, what identifies it is the type of dance that is performed.

 Good condition, old traces of woodworm holes no longer present, hole on the head and under the chin, same direction, therefore wanted for a reason unknown to us

Private collection Turin

 Acquired by the “Galleria Arkana” Turin in the 1980s

 Acquired by the Multiethnic and Antique Gallery "Arkadia Gallery" Turin

 Current Owner Adriano Putignano - Turin