Ciwara Yèrè Yèrè: Champion Farmers and Powerful Dancers on the Mande Plateau

• Event Date: Friday, November 3, 2006
• Time: 4:00 pm (CST)
• Location: Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL
• Cost: Free Admission

• Talk

Stephen P. Wooten, Ph.D., Department of Anthropology and the International Studies Program, University of Oregon.

Dr. Stephen Wooten completed his PhD in socio-cultural anthropology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1997. He has been conducting regular ethnographic field research in rural Mali since 1992. His work addresses issues of socio-economic change, patterns of natural resource management, and the role of expressive culture in identity formation among the Bamana peoples of the Mande cultural region. Dr. Wooten's research on the dramatic ciwara performances of the Bamana has been published in the journal African Arts, in a path-breaking book called See the Music, Hear the Dance, and has been featured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Dr. Wooten currently teaches in the Department of Anthropology and the International Studies Program at the University of Oregon.

The talk: Ciwara Yere Yere: Champion Farmers and Powerful Performers on the Mande Plateau

"The world began and it will end with farming" — a common Bamana proverb

The Bamana phrase "Ciwara yere yere" has multiple meanings. People on the Mande Plateau in central Mali use it to refer to "true" or "powerful" antelope headdresses or to denote "true" or "champion" farmers. In using the phrase they recognize antelope headdresses and agriculture as important elements of origin and celebrate them as fundamental ingredients for ongoing renewal. In this presentation Dr. Wooten will explore how these key components of Bamana culture function simultaneously as touchstones to the ancient past and signs of Bamana identity in contemporary Mali. By integrating complementary lines of inquiry and analysis drawn from a range of disciplines and incorporating insights gained through a long-term (since 1992) ethnographic field study on the Mande Plateau, Dr. Wooten will offer a novel and nuanced perspective on Bamana expressive culture and agrarian identity.

This lecture is presented in conjunction with the Campbell Gallery exhibit Where Animals Dance.