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MALIAN MASTER PUPPETEER, YAYA COULIBALI: “PUPPETRY IS THE SUM OF
THE COLLECTIVE HUMAN IMAGINARY”  
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Ricard González
March 15, 2024
Equal Times [[link removed]]

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_ We Africans have to value what we have more and what we are, to
value culture, something that is not tangible and cannot be bought and
sold, like money. _

Yaya Coulibali, pictured here, was one of the main star guests at the
24th edition of the International Theatre Festival of Carthage, held
in Tunis, Tunisia, in December 2023., (Photo: Ricard González)

 

The veteran Malian master puppeteer Yaya Coulibali, born in 1959 in
the village of Koula, around 100 kilometres north-east of Bamako, has
more than half a century of experience in puppetry and has toured the
world to perform his art. A descendant of the distinguished family
that ruled the animist Bambara kingdom of Segou (1721-1861), his
father entrusted him with the task of learning and passing on the role
of puppeteer, which involves a wide range of skills that go beyond
theatre in Malian culture. And he has devoted his entire life to it.

It is a political as well as an artistic commitment, as puppetry is
targeted by the jihadist groups that control part of the country,
although not the capital, Bamako, where Yaya Coulibali lives. He also
feels it is important to impress on the younger generations the value
of their own culture, which is being lost with the large-scale
emigration to the West.

During the 24th edition of the International Theatre Festival of
Carthage, held in Tunis, Tunisia in December 2023, Coulibali, one of
the main star guests, spoke to _Equal Times_ about his art in the
current African context.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE THE ART OF PUPPETRY?

My father had a way of defining it, that I like very much, as the sum
of the collective human imaginary. One has to bear in mind that it
encompasses several artistic disciplines: storytelling, song, dance.
Puppetry is the first living art of humanity. The others came later.
Moreover, it is universal, as we find the first manifestations of it
in regions all over the world during a period ranging from 4,000 to
10,000 years ago. In Mali, it is an age-old art, the root of our
culture. Centuries ago, the Arab traveller Ibn Battuta already
commented on the role of puppets in his chronicles.

WHY ARE THEY SO IMPORTANT IN MALI?

Traditionally, puppets have played many social roles, so the puppeteer
is a playwright, a therapist, a magician, a theologian. It was
believed, for example, that puppetry was a form of resurrection of the
ancestors, and some could even experience a trance and communicate
with them. The puppeteer also helped to treat certain health problems.
It was the puppeteer who made a splint when someone broke a bone.
Today, there are scientific studies in France that demonstrate their
ability to heal children with psychosomatic illnesses.

AND THEY ALSO PLAY THE SOCIAL ROLE OF BRINGING SOCIETY TOGETHER,
DON’T THEY?

Yes, indeed, they help to strengthen the social fabric and social
cohesion. Puppets play a fundamental role in the transmission of
knowledge, ancestral myths and the history of the community. In short,
culture. It is a very effective way of transmitting messages and
knowledge to future generations. In the past, there used to be many
festivals in the villages that brought children closer to culture. It
played a valuable socialising role. Another example of its value as a
channel for social cohesion is that when the rains came the sacred
puppets would go out on the streets to dance, marking the start of the
sowing festival. Then, at harvest time, it was time to thank the
heavens for having fed us, and everyone would go out to dance in a
spirit of fraternity.

THIS ASPECT MUST BE IMPORTANT AT A TIME WHEN MALI IS SUFFERING FROM
JIHADIST VIOLENCE...

Jihadism is a new form of banditry. It has nothing to do with our
people. In the Sahel, we have always had a good relationship with each
other. The problem is that, after [Muammar] Gaddafi’s death, a
number of extremist groups flourished, there was mayhem, and the area
became an Eldorado for traffickers. We need to be able to promote
unity in diversity. We puppeteers have always experienced difficulties
with religions, and with power in general, because we speak the truth.
And now we are the target of the jihadists, who consider the
representation of human beings as heresy.

AND ON A PERSONAL LEVEL, WHAT DO PUPPETS REPRESENT FOR YOU?

They are my life. I was born on a day dedicated to a spiritual
celebration, and so, according to my people – the Bambara – I was
destined to be the repository of ancestral knowledge, even though I
was not the first-born child. Puppeteer status is passed down from
father to son and in my family the tradition goes back to the 11th
century. For all these reasons, my family did not want me to pursue my
studies [at secondary school] and, above all, not to do so in the
capital. They were afraid that I would give up this responsibility.
But that wasn’t going to happen because puppetry has always been a
passion for me. I have fought all my life for the recognition of
puppetry in the French-speaking world because, not many decades ago,
it was considered a lesser art. This discipline is central to the
cultural heritage of the entire African continent.

ARE YOU OPTIMISTIC ABOUT AFRICA’S FUTURE?

Yes, because Africa is very rich. Let’s not forget that humanity was
born here, and then spread to the rest of the world. I believe that
sooner or later humanity will return to Africa. We are the birthplace
of world culture. But here there is a danger that the transmission of
knowledge will be lost because many young people emigrate. That is why
one of my struggles is to give encouragement to young people, to serve
as a point of reference for them. We Africans have to value what we
have more and what we are, to value culture, something that is not
tangible and cannot be bought and sold, like money. In the West, they
have another problem with young people, that of screens, which are
harmful, because they make it impossible for young people to
concentrate.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE OF PUPPET MAKING?

I learnt in the traditional style, but I’ve enhanced it thanks to my
contact with the outside world. I trained in France, and then I
travelled all over the world. We had stick puppets, and the ones you
put on your shoulders, but I learned to make marionettes, string
puppets, in the West, so now my work is the fruit of a fusion. Each
country has its own tradition. The ones I really like are from Laos
and Indonesia.

YOUR PUPPETS ARE ALL BRIGHTLY COLOURED. WHAT IS THE SYMBOLISM BEHIND
THE COLOURS?

In Mali, we are a country of colours, and they have their importance
when it comes to puppets because, in the past, we used to perform with
little light, by the light of the moon, and they had to be visible
from far away. One important colour is yellow, because it symbolises
the ancestors, life. Yellow is the colour of dawn, of the sun, and it
is also the colour of the first excrement of a newborn baby. White
refers to the goddess of purification, but also to death, because that
is the colour of crocodile excrement. Blue and green, meanwhile, are
related to mother nature.

SOME PUPPETS REPRESENT HUMAN BEINGS, OTHERS REPRESENT ANIMALS. WHAT
SIGNIFICANCE DO THEY HAVE?

[Depending on the group,] they have different names. Manis is the name
we give to those of human beings, and _sogo_ is the name we give to
those of animals. For us, the relationship with animals is important.
We have lived with them since the dawn of time, and we have learned
from them. They have served as a source of inspiration for us. Each
animal usually represents a human character. Two key animals in our
theatre are the hyena and the gazelle.

WHAT ROLE DO WOMEN PLAY IN PUPPETRY IN MALI?

Women in our culture are very important, they are the memory of the
nation. We believe that we are all descended from a woman in ancient
times, whom we call Pemba. That is why the figure of the woman
represents God, the creation. In our language, when people die, we say
“they have returned to their mother”. And that’s why we bury
corpses in the foetal position. During the puppet festivals, she
performs various tasks, such as welcoming the performers and taking
care of the musicians’ instruments.

WHAT DREAM WOULD YOU STILL LIKE TO FULFIL?

I would like to finish building the Maison de la Marionnette [House of
Puppetry] in Bamako. It will serve several purposes: it will be a
theatre, a museum, and it will have a residence to welcome artists
from other places who come to receive training. As part of the
project, we are carrying out an inventory of the 25,000 puppets in my
care. Many are family heirlooms. The oldest ones date back to the
sixth century. I myself have around 3,000 of my own. You have to treat
puppets like people, because they might always have a new life, years
later, and end up in a museum.

_Ricard González is a political scientist and journalist specialising
in the Arab world. After living in Egypt for four years he has been
based in Tunisia since 2015. He is the author of the book The Rise
and Fall of the Muslim Brotherhood._

_This article has been translated from Spanish by Louise Durkin_

_Equal Times is a trilingual news and opinion website focusing on
labour, human rights, culture, development, the environment, politics
and the economy from a social justice perspective._

* Culture
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* puppets
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* Mali
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* Africa
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