Alikali devil masqueraders

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art. Visual details below describe the original material.

Donor notes read: ""Alikali"; Child devil Kabala, Christmas, 1979. "ta/la/be" = devil-Krio. Alakali or "jolly" seems to be used by Koranko. The child devils I saw were mostly Koranko boys. There were no girls involved in the dancing. The date on the slide is FEB 80." A performance includes two or three dances by the devil, accompanied by a group of child musicians playing a variety of handcrafted instruments and a chorus singing songs drawn from the masking group's repertoire. These performances are sponsored by urban associations that are multiethnic and segregated by sex but not by religion or social status. [Jeanne Cannizzo, "The Alikali Devils of Sierra Leone: Play, Performance, and Social Commentary," Appears in Playful Performers, Routledge, 2006.].

Collection

Christopher DeCorse photographs

Archival grouping

Christopher DeCorse photographs / Sierra Leone

Catalog date

1979

Recorded places

Africa; Sierra Leone

Cataloged creator or photographer

DeCorse, Christopher R

Recorded subjects

Masked dance -- Photographs; Masquerades

Format and extent

1 Slides (photographs) (col.)

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