Away from Africa

A photo gallery of new African puppets by Vickie Frémont, representing various regions and fabrics in the continent. Indigo Mudcloth Baule woven cloth Bazin fabric Korhogo fabric The puppets are to be shown at the upcoming SIRA event at the Maison de l'Afrique in Montreal, Canada, on November 7, 8 and 9, 2013. Vickie will be holding three workshops on Saturday, November 9. Maison de l'Afrique: 6256 Henri-Julien, Montreal - for more information: tel. 514-701-1433.

In "the olden days," in Sub-Saharan Africa, there was a larger variety of dolls than nowadays, of which I'll describe a few. They used to be made of natural materials, such as wood, earth, or even weeds. Ashanti doll The Ashanti doll, from Ghana , is one of the most famous worldwide:   a wood circle-face on a stick-like body (photo shown to the left) Moundang doll The Mandara mountains Moundang doll, from Northern Cameroon , made of volcanic rock, and decorated with tiny beads. This is the one which arguably least resembles the traditional European-style doll (photo right).  Fali dolls from northern Cameroon :   * male doll made of a corncob, decorated with  cowry  shells, European beads, leather strips, with a cotton skirt;   * "boy" doll made of wood, with cowry shells, bells, leather strips (illustrations shown below);  The Fali-Namchi dolls have been revisited in recent years, as shown below ...