Lyon exhibition celebrates Mali's Sogo bò masquerade tradition
The Musée des Confluences presents 110 objects from a UNESCO-recognised art form that combines masks, puppets, music and dance.
A new exhibition at the Musée des Confluences in Lyon, France, is celebrating Sogo bò, the traditional Malian performance that brings together masks, puppets, music and dance.
Sogo bò is practised in central-western Mali, particularly along the Niger River, and is believed to have originated among the Bozo people on its banks. It is far more than a spectacle: it plays an important role in village life. Young people learn to make and operate the masks and puppets, while women perform the songs.
The exhibition opens with ten figures representing the TON association, the youth groups that organise village festivities and receive visitors. It is arranged in two sections, the village and the river, and presents 110 objects, among them pieces donated by the collectors Sonia and Albert Loeb. Costume makers from the Lyon Opera worked from archival video recordings to recreate some of the best-known characters, using plant fibres and fabric to construct animals such as antelopes.
Sogo bò has been inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2014. In Mali, mask and puppet festivals continue to help sustain the tradition, although insecurity, economic hardship and environmental change are making it increasingly difficult for communities to hold cultural events.