Sumbo
Sumbo refers to the ritual masks of the Bwaba (Bobo) people of Burkina Faso, which are believed to embody powerful spirits that connect the human world with the invisible realm of ancestors and bush spirits. In Bwaba cosmology, the Sumbo masks represent a complex spiritual system that mediates between two categories of invisible entities: the ancestors and the bush spirits (genies de brousse). The Sumbo tradition includes different types of masks, from the most sacred fresh leaf masks (made from specific species of bush trees and associated with the Do initiatory cult) to fabric masks used in