TY  - BOOK
AU  - Arnoldi,Mary Jo
TI  - Playing with time: art and performance in central Mali 
SN  - 025330900X (acidfree paper)
AV  - DT551.45.B35 A76 1995
U1  - 791.53089 22
PY  - 1995///
CY  - Bloomington
PB  - Indiana University Press
KW  - Bambara (African people)
KW  - Rites and ceremonies
KW  - Folklore
KW  - Social life and customs
KW  - Puppet theater
KW  - Mali
KW  - S©♭gou (Region)
KW  - Kirango
KW  - Performance
KW  - Time
KW  - Social aspects
N1  - include index, bibliography
N2  - Twice a year in the central Malian region of Segou, communities put aside daily routines to observe and participate in elaborate puppet masquerades produced by local youth associations. These performances rank among the region's most celebrated artistic events. Mary Jo Arnoldi weaves a vivid account of this vibrant West African theater tradition from the interrelated vantage points of the players, the audiences, and the artists who make the masquerades and puppets. Basing her work on current theory in anthropology, art, and performance studies, she examines in depth the processes by which Malians create an affective and dramatic vehicle that expresses their individual, social, and historical identities. Generously illustrated with field photographs and incorporating materials from the author's extensive interviews with sculptors and performers, this performance-centered study foregrounds time, change, and human agency. It recognizes the theater as a dynamic arena of artistic action and a site for the production of cultural knowledge
ER  -