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The art of
Burkina
Faso
Many kinds of
art and different handcrafts can be found in Burkina Faso, and there is much traditional music and
dancing. Handcrafted fabric and art objects are among the few real
enterprises in Burkina Faso. Because there are so few avenues for employment and
enterprise in such a poor country, those who sell such tourist items can be
rather persistent, especially in the large markets and tourist areas of Ouagadougou
and Bobo-Dioulasso. But even though salespeople can border on aggressive (especially
toward Americans), they are much less so than in many other tourist locations in
the developing world.
The artists themselves
represent a range of talents and skills, some of which are passed down from one
generation to the next, and others of which are adapted or learned from other
families or cultures.
Artists at
work...
Click on a thumbnail
image to see the larger photo.
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Cathy with the artist from Bobo-Dioulasso who made these wind chimes from wood and a
calabash--parts he also uses to make a musical instrument called a ballophone. The wind
chimes get quite a work-out on the front porch in Ouahigouya as the harmattan winds
come and go.
December
1999
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Marla makes friends with a bronze-casting artist
in Bobo-Dioulasso. Afterwards, he gave us both "cadeaux"--presents
(bronze crescent-shaped charms), even though we didn't buy anything. 
December
1999 |
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Making ballophones
and drums> |
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A sculptor in Bobo-Dioulasso signing an abstract sculpture of a
mother and child that I bought from him. When I showed him his picture on the LCD
monitor of my digital camera, he got very excited.
In French, he said, "I'm inside
the box! You've immortalized me!"December
1999 |
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Cathy's friend Souleymane,
an artist in Ouahigouya
who
makes batiks |
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An artist paints unique contemporary
calabashes at an arts collective (OLARUN) in Ouagadougou.
September 2001 |
From
cotton to thread to cloth to clothes...
Madame Toe, from Bobo-Dioulasso, spins cotton the
old-fashioned way, using a stick with a weighted pottery ball at the
bottom. We talked for a long time, and she lamented the fact that young
people today don't want to learn the old crafts. (See pictures
of Madame TOE and her granddaughter Rosa in Bobo.)>
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<Weavers in a women's cooperative in
Ouaga turn hand-spun yarn into traditional striped
fabric. |
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Local tailors turn long strips of fabric into traditional
shirts and dresses, slightly different for each of the many ethnic groups
in Burkina Faso. (Mr. Bady is also incredible at designing and fitting
more contemporary clothes.)>
July 2001
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<People wear traditional shirts even
today in Burkina Faso. Here, some Peace Corps facilitators wear
traditional shirts of their native Dagara group during an ethnic showcase.
July 2001
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All photos and essays are copyright
Cathy Seeley. All rights reserved. No photo
or text may be reproduced without
permission except for small group educational purposes (thanks for giving
appropriate credit).
For other uses, please contact Cathy
Seeley.
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