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Griot Potters of the Folona reconstructs the past of a particular
group of West African women potters using evidence found in their
artistry and techniques. The potters of the Folona region of
southeastern Mali serve a diverse clientele and firing thousands of
pots weekly during the height of the dry season. Although they
identify themselves as Mande, the unique styles and types of
objects the Folona women make, and more importantly, the way they
form and fire them, are fundamentally different from Mande potters
to the north and west. Through a brilliant comparative analysis of
pottery production methods across the region, especially how the
pots are formed and the way the techniques are taught by mothers to
daughters, Barbara Frank concludes that the mothers of the potters
of the Folona very likely came from the south and east, marrying
Mande griots (West African leatherworkers who are better known as
storytellers or musicians), as they made their way south in search
of clientele as early as the 14th or 15th century CE. While the
women may have nominally given up their mothers' identities through
marriage, over the generations the potters preserved their maternal
heritage through their technological style, passing this knowledge
on to their daughters, and thus transforming the very nature of
what it means to be a Mande griot. This is a story of resilience
and the continuity of cultural heritage in the hands of women.
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