Trajectories of a Mask Performance : the Case of the Senegalese Kumpo

Abstract

Abstract This article examines the divergent trajectories of the Kumpo rnask performance in Casamance (Senegal). Several modes of performance are related to various historical contexts of capitalist encroachment. It is shown that the mask-audience relationship expresses particular articulations between modes of performance and the social structure as determined by the global capitalist economy. The performances analysed involve divergent audiences of young women, officiais, and foreign tourists. The Kumpo performance has very diverse meanings in the various contexts, ail of them contemporaneous. The mask is used in various ways to manage the impact of the market economy. Commoditisation of the mask performance has resulted in a radical transformation of the mask-audience relationship.

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