Mali Art: Mali Wedding Beads
When Europeans first encountered African art they deemed it to be “primitive” since African sculpture often represented the human form with distortions such as elongated bodies or exaggerated proportions. What the Europeans did not understand was that this was not due to the African artist being inept or naïve. In fact it was quite the opposite; the African artists deliberately distorted their art to reflect what they perceived as beauty and to create order as they felt it should be in their world. In modern terminology, Mali art would have been considered to be abstract but the Europeans had no concept of this art form and instead, termed African art as primitive.
In African languages there is no one single word for “art”. There are numerous words used to convey that something is beautiful or to refer to an item that has been made. The Bamana people have two phrases for the word sculpture, both of which translate to mean “things to look at”. In Mali the idea of “artist” is completely unlike what a Westerner would think of “artist”. In Mali the artist does not start the work with the idea of making something nice to look at; the idea is to create a piece that will be successful at performing a religious, magical or economic function.
Mali art is extremely collectable today. Once considered primitive, today it is recognized as beautiful, spiritual, valuable and highly desirable. Along with fine wood sculpture, one of the most sought after collectables among Mali art are Mali wedding beads.
Origin of Mali Wedding Beads
What makes Mali wedding beads so interesting is that they are not original to Mali. In the 1800’s and early 1900’s Bohemia (Czech Republic) glass works were producing trade beads to be used in Africa. Women all over West Africa wore trade beads but in Mali a tradition evolved using trade beads during weddings. On the day of her marriage, the Mali bride to be is presented a necklace made of these beautiful, hand made glass beads.
Mali wedding beads are generally made in three shapes; flat triangular, flat elongated and bulb shaped. The colors are spectacular; every color of the rainbow is represented on a single strand of Mali wedding beads. Each bead is hand made and unique; some are solid color while others are marbled with swirls of color winding through the base color, some are striped to resemble a zebra coat and some are opalescent or translucent. No matter what their coloration, Mali beads are simply spectacular.
Today, Mali wedding beads are showing up for sale on sites such as eBay, a bead at a time. The strands are being dismantled and sold bead by bead. These beads are so prized that non-authentic beads are replicated and passed off as original.
Tips for Buying Authentic Mali Wedding Beads
A few tips for buying authentic Mali wedding beads might assure that you buy the real thing. There are numerous African based websites that offer beads still in the original strand or as singles. These dealers commonly guarantee their beads as authentic and show very detailed, close up photos of the items. If the beads are advertised as “old” or “antique” look for surface scratches or wear that show the beads have been worn. Also, don’t fall for beads that have no hole, Mali weddings beads must have a hole to have been strung onto a necklace.
Far from primitive, Mali art is very desirable.
