Minneapolis Institute of Art

Hunter's shirt

Mali

Medium

Cotton, pigment, animal hide, mirrors, animal teeth and claws, shells, metal

Department

Arts of Global Africa

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

In most traditional West African societies, hunters are considered to possess exceptional physical and supernatural power. The clothes they wear—shirts, tunics, and caps—symbolize their aggressiveness and “otherness.” In the past, experienced hunters also were leading warriors and strategists. This shirt's cotton is dyed using mud to form the thin, black lines. Traditional elements are the leather strips, mirrors, and little boxes containing quotations from the Qur’an or medicinal plants that have been attached to the shirt, together with teeth, claws and horns of various animal species. Modern elements of the garment include a zipper and plastic button. Usually this kind of garment would be worn for protection during the hunt, but this may be a ceremonial shirt made to honor a particular hunter. Mali

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