Profile of a Professional West African Mask-Maker

Abdoulie Sowe is one of many in an extended family that makes his living almost entirely

Action shot of Abdoulie Sowe carving an African mask

through woodcarving and finishing.  Everyday, he hikes several miles from his family compound on on side of the Brikama village, to the outskirts of the town, where lies one of Gambia’s largest woodcarving workshops.

The Brikama Craft Market is a “home away from home” to over eighty West African craftsmen like Abdoulie, who spend their days whittling, polishing and selling their masks and sculptures to tourists.  Recently, the market moved its location and now the carvers even have electricity hooked up within their stalls.  “It’s a nice improvement,” says Abdoulie, showing off his 8 foot by 8 foot stall, filled with Jola, Mandinka, and Fula masks as well as African sculptures of crocodiles and elephants.

Despite the “modern” look of the new market, woodcarving is still almost exclusively done the old-fashioned way.  Carvers like Abdoulie use only their hands, by the light of the sun, and rugged simple tools.  Amazingly, with rudimentary chisels, he and his colleagues can turn out sculptures of African men from logs of mahogany in under 30 minutes.

Just as any other self-employed individual, the work comes and goes.  Abdoulie takes a positive approach, however–he’s opened a bank account in the city so that he can put away money for the “hungry season,”  when tourists are few and the fruitful rainy season has given way to dry climate.

“My wife and children, and even others, depend on me for fish money,” Abdoulie says.  With a new baby at home and his wife only able to work on occasion, he hopes that his primary market–tourists–will continue to value and purchase traditional African masks and other carvings of animal figures that he makes.

“The competition is even higher now,” he worries.  Since Brikama isn’t a well-known tourist hot spot, the newly renovated market has grown to attract more artisans looking for work than buying visitors.  Seasonal artisans from Senegal, Mali and even Nigeria come to take advantage of the upcoming tourist industry within The Gambia, only to realize the supply already outnumbers the demand.

In recent years, Abdoulie has sought out partnerships overseas, exporting his crafts to a few select buyers in Europe and America to increase sales overall.  Despite some success, Abdoulie and many craftsmen still earn yearly wages below standard poverty lines.  What will help?  “An increase in sales, most definitely,” smiles Abdoulie.  “It’s not that we aren’t getting good prices for our work, it’s just that we’re not getting enough orders.  Not everyone in the world is in the market for an African mask, it seems.”  At least he’s got a sense of humor about it all.

Though Abdoulie can’t imagine any other work than woodcarving, he does have hopes for his wife who works at a restaurant on occasion.  She’d love to open a beauty supply store, and he’s working on making that a reality for her, one mask at a time.