CraftNorth

Senufo: painted cloth, hornbill figures and the Poro society

Senufo · Korhogo

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The Senufo are the main people of the northern Gur world, centred on Korhogo. Their painted cloth (toiles de Korhogo), hornbill figures and masks are often linked to the Poro society, a secret society responsible for male initiation and traditional education.

In the Senufo cosmology the hornbill is one of the first creatures, a symbol of fertility and knowledge. Many motifs on the painted cloth come from ritual and myth.

CE QUE VOUS VERREZ · What you will see

Coarse cotton painted with natural dyes in silhouettes of birds, fish and masked dancers; a carved wooden hornbill with a long beak, a big belly and spread wings.

POURQUOI · So what

Senufo carving is among the Ivorian art most often seen in Western museums, and painted cloth is the north's most portable cultural ambassador.

SAVOIR-FAIRE · How to use it

Seeing a hornbill and saying 'that's Senufo, from the north' sets it apart from southern Baoulé style. But do not ask about Poro's secret rituals.

Asian and European parallelsCompare Mali's bogolan mud cloth and Japanese indigo dyeing; the secret society can be compared with initiation systems elsewhere.

Where to experience itWorkshops in Korhogo in the north; craft markets in Abidjan.

On these routes

Three Days of Northern Craft: Korhogo and Senufo Land