Description The Bozo people are known as ‘the masters of the Niger river’ and are the oldest inhabitants of their region which neighbours the Dogon. Although the majority have converted to Islam, they preserve Animist traditions and this contemporary festival mask shows that elements of their original culture survives. Bozo fish masks from Mali are best understood as part of a wider river-and-village performance tradition often called Sogo bò (sometimes written Sogo bo), a mask and puppet masquerade theatre in central Mali. The term is commonly glossed as “animals come forth”, and performances are organised through local youth associations, with young men as the main makers and performers. For Bozo communities along the Niger River, fish imagery is especially important because fishing is central to livelihood and identity. That is why fish puppet masks and fish headpieces show up often in Bozo contexts within these masquerades.
