  About the Artwork
  
  
  This carved wood drum was initially owned and played by a women’s association known as A-tekan among the Baga people of Guinea, West Africa. Of the many drums the A-tekan employs in its activities, this type is exceptional because of its large size and distinctive imagery that glorifies womanhood.  

Called ndef, such drums epitomize feminine power because, although the artists who make them are always male, Baga women commission them and strictly control their design. The drum’s imagery, showing abstractions of bull’s horns, also articulates women’s critical roles and prerogatives in Baga society. Typically, the A-tekan’s members play the drum during their annual weeklong initiation ceremonies, at members’ funerals, and at their daughters’ weddings.
  
  
  Title
  Ceremonial Drum
  
  
  Artwork Date
  early 20th century
  
  Artist
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  Life Dates
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  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  African
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
  Baga
  
  
  Medium
  Wood and animal hide
  
  
  Dimensions
  Overall: 42 × 20 inches (106.7 × 50.8 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Sculpture
  
  
  Department
  African Art
  
  
  Credit
  Gift of Bonnie Ann Larson
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  2020.94
  
  
  Copyright
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