12.
icomoKuN Korno association, Bamana peoples, Koulikoro region, Mali Wood, porcupine quills, animal fur, antelope horns, feathers, mirror, sacrificial patina. H. 17 1/2 in. (44.4 cm) HELMET MASK: WARAKUN OR
Gift of Kent and Charles Davis. 92.804
The visually aggressive form of the horizontal helmet masks known as warakun (head of beast) or kOmokun (head of Koma) can be explained by their role as instruments of the Kama power association. The association is open to all circumcised men, who as "children of Korno" (Komo denw) are taught selfknowledge, leadership and fighting skills, and abilities to work through the natural and supernatural realms (McNaughton 1979:22-23). Although Kama meetings and performances are not public—they are held at night in the bush—the association acts on behalf of individuals and the community, assisting at times of crisis and illness and responding to attacks of sorcery or spirits (ibid.:22). Formerly, Komi) also acted as a kind of police force and judiciary, detecting and punishing criminals (ibid.:20). Komi) is led by blacksmith-sculptors (numuw; McNaughton 1988:130), articulators par excellence of nyama, a potent animating force. The "master of Kama" (KOmOtigi) draws upon a body of esoteric knowledge and practical expertise that is gathered into efficacious "recipes" (daliluw) and used in combination with divination and/or masquerade to access nyama (ibid.:42-43, 130). Masks are carved
in the bush, and every sculptor has his own "recipe" for investing a mask with nyama (ibid.:I33). Herbal substances mixed with earth are applied to the mask, which refers to no one animal but is a metaphor for all that is bush. The huge mouth may be that of a hyena (thought cunning and intelligent), a crocodile (protective), or a horse (leadership, power) (ibid.:136-37, 143). Various horns or tusks are incorporated as evidence of "potential aggression" (ibid.:136) or as receptacles for power substances. Quills refer to poisons, wisdom, and the "capacity for violence" (ibid.). Animal fur links this "beast" with its bush origins. A mirror at the end of the snout may suggest sight into the spiritual realm. The small round forms are considered mosiri (decoration) (ibid.:143) but may also be basivi or boliw (power devices or objects), "reservoirs of power" that enhance the mask's efficacy (Patrick McNaughton: personal communication, 1990). Throughout its use, the mask will receive further sacrificial materials that "nourish" its power (McNaughton 2001:178). In performance, the Komo masquerade charges out of the bush, challenging its audience with quick, aggressive movements (ibid.:176). The performer may execute acrobatics, or dramatic feats of spitting fire and water (McNaughton 1988:142-44). He will also use unclear speech, which is translated by an accompanying bard, the Kombsuruku (McNaughton 2001:178). Mask, costume, movement, and sound are dramatically orchestrated to resonate with nyama, and, in its antisorcery functions, to "fight fire with fire" (ibid.). TAVY D. AHERNE
RESONANCE FROM THE PAST
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