Songuifolo Silué (*1914 +1986) was a very productive Fono from Sirasso. He carved for about 60 years, before he went blind in the early 1980ies. Beside the traditional style, in this area called the Ouézomon-style, Silué created in the 1930ies a minimalistic handwriting. As a famous master he had many orders. These modern looking Nyingife statues for instance might be the result of an effective production. In projection he and his assistants carved more than 1000 objects in his lifetime.
The shown Nyingife statues are carved for private persons. After visiting the deviner, the Tugubele tell what kind of spiritual effect is needed. The carver produces the figure and, in most cases, gives it back to the deviner, who is going to add paint or black dye on the object, to give power to it. The two smaller male Nyingife are painted black and red (the Senufo use paint after 1950), the larger female one shows the traditional black stain.
Silué was not aware of the Golden Cut. He did not study the anatomy of the body like artist of our culture. He carves the statues from his imaginative power, how a spirit might look like. In Senufo culture it is not alowed, that a statue looks like a human being. Studying the proportions of these three figures it stands out, that all have the same segmentations, though they all have different heights. Comparing with the Absolute Hearing of a musician, Silué does show an enormous feeling for proportion and shape.
Left: Female Nyingife, carved by Songuifolo Silué, Fono from Sirasso. *1914 +1986. Time of creation after 1950.
12,0 x 4,0 x 4,0 cm, wood, black dye. Collected by Jaques Fabre 1971 in Korhogo.
Literature:
- Wenn Brauch Gebrauch beeinflusst, Markus Ehrhard, pages 21, 102 - 103.
- Wenn Neuordnung Ordnung schafft, Markus Ehrhard, page 21.
- Kunst & Kontext, Ausgabe 07, 2014, page 39.
- Kunst und Religion bei den Gbato-Senufo, Elfenbeinküste, Karl-Heinz Krieg und Wulf Lohse, page 46 - 49.
- Aus Afrika, Ahnen - Geister - Götter, Jürgen Zwernemann und Wulf Lohse, Seite 21 - 22.
- Afrika Begegnung, aus der Sammlung Artur und Heidrun Elmer, page 42.
Middle: Male Nyingife, carved by Songuifolo Silué, Fono from Sirasso. *1914 +1986. Time of creation after 1950.
15,0 x 4,5 x 4,0 cm, wood, black paint.
Literature:
- Wenn Neuordnung Ordnung schafft, Markus Ehrhard, pages 21, 130 - 131.
- Kunst und Religion bei den Gbato-Senufo, Elfenbeinküste, Karl-Heinz Krieg und Wulf Lohse, page 46 - 49.
- Aus Afrika, Ahnen - Geister - Götter, Jürgen Zwernemann und Wulf Lohse, Seite 21 - 22.
- Afrika Begegnung, aus der Sammlung Artur und Heidrun Elmer, page 42.
Right: Male Nyingife, carved by Songuifolo Silué, Fono from Sirasso. *1914 +1986. Time of creation after 1950.
12,0 x 4,0 x 4,0 cm, wood, red paint. Collected by Souleymane Arachi 2014 in Boundiali.
Literature:
- Wenn Neuordnung Ordnung schafft, Markus Ehrhard, pages 21, 132 - 133.
- Kunst und Religion bei den Gbato-Senufo, Elfenbeinküste, Karl-Heinz Krieg und Wulf Lohse, page 46 - 49.
- Aus Afrika, Ahnen - Geister - Götter, Jürgen Zwernemann und Wulf Lohse, Seite 21 - 22.
- Afrika Begegnung, aus der Sammlung Artur und Heidrun Elmer, page 42.
Copyright content and images by Markus Ehrhard
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