FEATURE 8. By 2013, 1,226 objects were listed in the database of the Menil Collection in Houston. Kristina Van Dyke, private communication, 19 June 2014. 9. It is more exact to use the expression Inland Niger Delta (IND) for these objects, which are distributed well beyond the area around the town of Djenné, both the present-day location and the ancient city of Djenné-Djeno (Grunne 1990: 17; Panella 2002: 15). In his most recent work, Grunne (2014: 16) proposes “Djenné-jeno,” which is scarcely more satisfactory for the above reasons. 10. In West Africa, the griots are speakers. Mamadou Kouyaté calls them “word bags” in his interviews with Niane (1960: 9). They are divided into several categories, depending on whether they use words only or accompany their stories with a musical instrument. They are organized in endogamous castes (Austen 2000: 8; Diawara 1996; Tamari 1991). 11. We had already raised the question, cautiously, with Kristina Van Dyke in 2008 during the Mande Studies Association (MANSA) colloquium, chaired by David Conrad, held in Lisbon on 24 June 2008. Our paper was titled “Slicing Through Time: CT Scanning of Malian Terra Cottas.” 12. Goody, 1979, 2007; Mangeon 2010: 127–130; see also Ingold 2007: 6–18. 13. Foucault 1969: 31–32. 14. Wa Kamissoko, one of the griots referred to here, claimed he could tell stories “for seventeen days without repeating what I said the day before” (Cissé & Kamissoko 2000: 249). 15. See speech given by French president, Nicolas Sarkozy (president 2007–2012), in Dakar on 26 July 2007. www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2007/11/09/le-discours-dedakar_ 118 976786_3212.html 16. Niane 1960: 78–79, note 1. 17. Cissé & Kamissoko 1988, 2000; Niane 1960; etc. 18. Bouttiaux & Ghysels 2008: 231; Colleyn 2009: 17, 141–159; Ghysels 2003, 2007, 2012; Jansen et al. 2001; Kaehr et al. 2007. 19. MQB archives, Eid 1991. A report written on 21 April 1991 when the museum was considering buying the IND piece from the Pierre Harter Collection. 20. Pierre Harter (1928–1991) was a doctor who worked primarily in Cameroon. He specialized in the art of that country, collecting objects and precious information about the contexts in which they were used (Marchal 1993: 12; Tardits 1993: 27). In 1992, the MNAAO received a bequest of fifty-three Cameroonian masterpieces from his collection. These objects are now on display at the MQB. 21. Inventory no. 73.1991.0.39, described as a terracotta with a red/pink ochre slip, H: 37.5, W: 31, D: 24 cm. MQB archives, Bouquillon et al: 1991, 1991 (archives); http://collections.quaibranly.fr/pod16/#0562c38f-a0b7-4566- b275-ed70ceba7689. Before its accession in the MQB, it was in the MNAAO, which acquired it in 1991 (inventory no. AP 91-39), following a purchase designed to expand the African collection with the agreement of the Malian government (Féau 1999: 927– 928). 22. Through Hélène Joubert, head of the African heritage unit, and Christophe Moulherat, in charge of analyzing the collections in the conservation/restoration unit. 23. MQB archives, Ghysels 2013. 24. Data related to techniques, materials, the artists’ gender, etc., will be the subject of a subsequent publication. 25. X-ray computed tomography (X-ray CT), also called computed axial tomography (CAT), is synonymous with CT scan. The scanner produces virtual slices on the axial plane which are then combined to make three-dimensional images (Ghysels 2003: 2012; Bouttiaux & Ghysels 2008: 232). 26. Panella 2013: 116, note 28. 27. Cissé & Kamissoko 1991, 2000, told by Wa Kamissoko, griot from Krina, Mali; Conrad & Condé 2004, told by Djanka Tassey Condé, griot from Fadama, northeastern Guinea; Jansen & Duintjer & Tamboura 1995, told by Lansine Diabate, griot from Kela, Mali; Johnson & Sisòkò 1992, 2003, told by Fa-Digi Sisòkò, griot from Kita, central western Mali; Niane 1960, told by Mamadou Kouyate, griot from Siguiri, Guinea; Suso, Kanute & Innes 1999, told by Bamba Suso and Banna Kanute, griots from Gambia. 28. The Mande or Manding (often spelled Manden) cultural area is occupied by groups from many West African countries who belong to the language group of the same name and were formerly included in the immense territory of the Mali Empire (Niane 2000: 151). 29. Also spelled Soundjata, Suniata, Sundiata, and known by other names such as Mari-Jata or Magan (Makan) Sunjata. 30. Austen & Jansen 1996; Conrad 1984; Conrad & Condé 2004; Conrad & Fisher 1983: 56; Devisse & Sidibé 1993: 143–144. 31. Ibn Battuta and Ibn Khaldun, 14th-century sources in Arabic; Niane 2000: 155. 32. Delafosse 1912: 165–1913, 18; Iliffe 1995: 71; Mauny 1951: 467; Monteil 1929: 380; Niane 2000: 149–150. 33. Also spelled Soumangoro, Soumahoro, Soumaworo, Soumaoro Kannté or Kante. 34. Also called Wagadou (Conrad 1984: 36). It has nothing to do with present-day Ghana or the city of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso; the capital (Koumbi Saleh?) is thought to have been in southern Mauritania (Mauny 1951: 467–469; Devisse & Diallo 1993: 103– 115). 35. Cissé & Kamissoko 2000: 45, 51–68; Niane 1960: 17–26. 36. Located in the present-day Ségou region in Mali (Cissé & Kamissoko 2000: 381; Niane 1960: 21). 37. See note 28. 38. Niane 1960: 20. Djoulou Kara Naïni is the name given to Alexander the Great (356–323 BC) “whom Islam calls Doul Kar Naïn. The traditionalists in Malinke regions often compare Alexander and Sunjata. Alexander’s journey from west to east is opposed to Sunjata’s journey from east to west” (Niane 1960: 10). “In the Manding tradition, Sunjata is often compared to Alexander. They say Alexander was the second to last conqueror of the world and Sunjata the seventh and last conqueror” (Niane 1960: 49). Translation I. Ollivier. 39. Niane 1960: 22. 40. Or her double. In some versions they are presented as sisters (Conrad 1999: 198). So either Dô Kamissa, Sogolon, and the Buffalo are different manifestations of the same person, or Sogolon and Dô Kamissa are sisters and the latter can turn herself into a buffalo. In any case, they are close and they come from Dô. 41. Niane 1960: 25. 42. “Djata le guide des gens du Dô” (Cissé & Kamissoko 2000: 45), he is therefore the chief or king of Dô.
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