So much has been written about the Guro tribe, and yet so little has been told of the concepts behind the Zaouli dance masks, and more importantly about the hitherto unseen near lifesize carved wooden Zaouli figures.
Videos abound of impressive Za...
Sabu was born close to the year 1925. We met up with him most recently in mid 2021 to help celebrate nearly the centenary of one of the finest and most inovative master carvers in the rich history of West Africa. At close to 100 years old, he like his father before him, has created magnificent wooden art sculptures which adorn the hallowed walls of many Western Museums including the 'Rietberg' and 'Barbier Muller' Museums in Switzerland, the 'Royal Africa' Museum in Belgium and aguably the world's most prestigious Museum hosting tribal Art, the 'Musee du Quai Branly' in Paris. Dr Thanni will shortly be hosting several exhibitions featuring the most incredible figures and the finest masks created during Sabu's illustrious career.
Sabu learned his craft from his father Boti, and before every wooden creation Sabu has made, he sacrificed a chicken at his fathers grave to say thank you for giving him the skills to do it. Sabu carved most pieces in a secret location in the forest, from one single piece of wood with no guide markings to follow, with just an adze and a small knife as tools. Sabu's hand made mask creations over the decades are some of the most famous around the globe. Now Sabu and Dr. Thanni are ready to show the world creations from Sabu that have never been seen before.
Until 2015 his most secretive creations, the incredible Zaouli figures, which he started carving with his father from as early as the mid 1940's have been hidden from the public eye and kept secret from the hoi polloi.
For over 50 years, these stunning carved art figures have been kept hidden from all but a few select members of the Gouro tribe male secret society, the 'Je'. Most figures were kept near sacred shrines or locked away in secret rooms in some villages.
In 2015, Dr Thanni and his team of tribal hunters, with the agreement of one of the heads of the Gouro tribe, 'Chef Kognan' were given access to see some of the most outstanding tribal art pieces to come out of Africa. These wooden figures of varying sizes with ornate coiffures and depictions carved upon their heads had seldom seen the light of day in half a century. Even in the villages, most of the men and nearly none of the women or children had ever seen them.
The only reason Dr Thanni was granted access, was in order to help sell some of these pieces for the villages in order to help the Guro people through some extremely difficult times, but also to secure the safety and future for their children and to help the countless Guro orphans that now exist in Central Cote D'Ivoire due mainly to severe droughts and the proliferation of the aids pandemic.
The plight of the Guro has been accentuated dramatically by the Covid-19 Global pandemic and so Dr Thanni has been tasked by the most senior Chief Kognan, with generating sufficiently large funding through sales of Sabu Bi Boti's creations. Profits will be used to greatly enhance the infrastucture of many of the villages, as well as building sustainable orphanages and schools in some of the villages around Zueunoula and Tibeita, some in the name of Sabu's father, 'Boti'..
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