The art of the Baule tribe is what the tribe is most known for. The citizens of this tribe are extremely verse in the art of wooden sculptures. Although the sculptor’s profession is up to them, they mostly choose to make wooden sculptures to carry on the traditions of their tribe. These sculptures are unique to the tribe and none of the other Akan people own them besides the Baule. These sculptures allow for a deeper connection to the spiritual world. Some examples of these sculptures would be the blolo bian for the men, and the blolo bla for women. The Baule believe that before they were born in the real world, they existed in the spirit world, and in the spirit world they had a spouse. Once in the real world, the “spirit spouse” would get jealous of of the person’s spouse in real life and cause marital problems, so they make wooden sculptures that resemble their spirit spouse. To appease the jealousy of these spirit spouses, each of the members of the Baule tribe have to make a shrine for their wooden sculpture to keep the spouse at bay.
They blolo bian resembles the male’s spirit wife, while the blolo bla resembles the female’s spirit husband. Each living quarter has at
least one or two shrines for the spirit spouses.
Another example of the fine artistry of the Baule is their masks. They have a total of four different masks for four different dances, the gba gba, the bonu amuen, the mblo, and the goli. The gba gba celebrates beauty and age, and is used for ritual dances at female funerals during the harvest season, while the bonu amuen protects the village from threats and appears at the deaths of notable people in the community. These masks traditionally take the form of an intimidating animal with a fierce muzzle of teeth. The mblo masks are used in a type of skit or solo act that goes by the same name that involves masks. They are used in entertainment dances and are very illustrious. The goli masks are present at the day of Goli, a day-long event that that normally involves the entire village. This day celebrates peace and joy among the tribe, and usually involves the drinking of palm wine as the main beverage.
The Baule tribe is the most interesting tribe in West Africa. Whether it be their famous wooden statues and masks, their egalitarian society, the amazing agriculture, or their interesting history, this tribe is convicted to keep their morals and traditions going and spreading their peace and joy among the land.