About the work
Date unknown, Burkina Faso. Qatar Museums / National Collection of Qatar, Doha. These anklets from Burkina Faso are associated with the Lobi or Gan communities. Their main decorative motif is a gently curved snake: among the Gan people the snake represents Dibira, a mythical serpent believed to have guided the ancestors of a princely family to a place where they could settle. Seen as both a founding and protective figure, Dibira symbolises the spiritual forces believed to protect the community and the land. Shown in Around the World in Jewellery at M7, Doha.
