page_title: Art of Burkina Faso
section_title: Lobi
hierarchical_section_title: Art of Burkina Faso / Lobi
caption_attribution_description: English: An artist in the village of Dako, Burkina Faso, with a newly carved stool.
context_page_description: Burkina Faso is a small, landlocked country north of Ghana and south of Mali and Niger. Economically, it is one of the four or five poorest countries in the world. Culturally, it is extremely rich. In part this is because so few people from Burkina have become Muslim or Christian. Many of the ancient artistic traditions for which Africa is so well known have been preserved in Burkina Faso because so many people continue to honor the ancestral spirits, and the spirits of nature. In great part they honor the spirits through the use of masks and carved figures. Many of the countries to the north of Burkina Faso had become predominantly Muslim, while many of the countries to the south of Burkina Faso are heavily Christian. In contrast many of the people of Burkina Faso continue to offer prayers and sacrifices to the spirits of nature and to the spirits of their ancestors. The result is that they continue to use the sorts of art that we see in museums in Europe and America.
context_section_description: The Lobi people live in southwestern Burkina Faso and northern Ivory Coast and Ghana. They are extremely resistant to any sort of centralized political authority. Instead their communities are based on the laws of God. The central character in every Lobi community is the religious specialist named the Thildar.
   This diviner is responsible for communication with the spirits that govern the community and protect members of each family from accidents, disease, violence, and all of the multiple threats people encounter in the harsh environment of West Africa.
  The Lobi represent the nature spirits whom they called Thil with figures that can be carved of wood, modeled from clay, or cast in brass. 
   These figures are called Boteba, and are usually housed in a dark shrine in the most remote space in the back of the family home. Larger clay figures may be kept outside, where because of the material from which they are made they are safe from theft. Brass figures are often worn on the body by members of the family.
  Each of these figures displays different gestures or poses, some of them may have two or even three heads, some female figures carry an infant under one arm. These unique features represent the particular talent or power of the spiritual being that they embody. A figure with two heads is twice as quick to recognize threat and to deal with it. A figure with an infant has the power to bring fertility to the women of the family. A figure holding one arm up blocks the entrance of malevolent spirits to the family home.
caption: Lobi artist with a carved stool, 1984
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