Boli (power figure)

Bamana Initiate, Komo association

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 341

Boliw (plural) are power objects created and harnessed by bolitigiw (traditional occult practitioners), who attend to the temporal and spiritual security of the community. They are composed as a concentrated reservoir of nyama (life force). The now-cracked surface was continually renewed with applied libations of millet, alcoholic beverages, kola nuts, and the blood of sacrificial offerings. This combination of animal, vegetable, and mineral ingredients constitutes a type of carefully controlled esoteric knowledge, or daliluw.

Boli (power figure), Bamana Initiate, Komo association, Wood, cloth, beads, applied organic materials, Bamana peoples

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Boli (power figure), Bamana Initiate, Komo association, Wood, cloth, beads, applied organic materials, Bamana peoples
Boli (power figure), Bamana Initiate, Komo association, Wood, cloth, beads, applied organic materials, Bamana peoples
Boli (power figure), Bamana Initiate, Komo association, Wood, cloth, beads, applied organic materials, Bamana peoples
Boli (power figure), Bamana Initiate, Komo association, Wood, cloth, beads, applied organic materials, Bamana peoples

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