Research Catalog

Playing with time : art and performance in central Mali

Title
Playing with time : art and performance in central Mali / Mary Jo Arnoldi.
Author
Arnoldi, Mary Jo.
Publication
Bloomington : Indiana University Press, [1995], ©1995.

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Description
xx, 227 pages : illustrations; 26 cm.
Summary
  • Twice a year in the central Malian region of Segou, communities put aside daily routines to observe and participate in elaborate puppet masquerades produced by local youth associations. These performances rank among the region's most celebrated artistic events.
  • Mary Jo Arnoldi weaves a vivid account of this vibrant West African theater tradition from the interrelated vantage points of the players, the audiences, and the artists who make the masquerades and puppets. Basing her work on current theory in anthropology, art, and performance studies, she examines in depth the processes by which Malians create an affective and dramatic vehicle that expresses their individual, social, and historical identities.
  • Generously illustrated with field photographs and incorporating materials from the author's extensive interviews with sculptors and performers, this performance-centered study foregrounds time, change, and human agency. It recognizes the theater as a dynamic arena of artistic action and a site for the production of cultural knowledge.
Series Statement
Traditional arts of Africa
Uniform Title
Traditional arts of Africa.
Subject
  • Bambara (African people) > Rites and ceremonies
  • Bambara (African people) > Folklore
  • Bambara (African people) > Social life and customs
  • Puppet theater > Ségou (Region)
  • Puppet theater > Kirango
  • Folklore > Performance > Mali
  • Time > Social aspects > Mali
  • Ségou (Mali : Region) > Social life and customs
  • Kirango (Mali) > Social life and customs
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references (p.212-220) and index.
Contents
Preface: Playing with Time: Art, Puppetry, and Performance -- 1. A Bamana Tonko Festival, Kirango, June 1979 -- 2. The Definition and History of the Segou Puppet Masquerade Theatre -- 3. The Sogo bo's Expressive Forms -- 4. Time, Timing, and the Performance Process -- 5. Bringing the Past into the Present in Masquerade Theatre -- 6. The Production of Meaning and the Play of Interpretations -- Conclusion: Kuma man nyi; Kumabaliya fana man nyi -- Masquerade List.
ISBN
025330900X (acid-free paper)
LCCN
94038744
OCLC
  • 31328703
  • ocm31328703
  • SCSB-14349681
Owning Institutions
Columbia University Libraries