AFRICA: ONE CONTINENT. MANY WORLDS | AFRICAN STORIES | CAMEROON

Bamum artwork expresses who they are

The Bamum make artwork to record their history and relate their vision of the world. In the past, as they conquered some Grassfields peoples and merged with others, Bamum artwork changed. Like other Grassfields peoples, the Bamum began to decorate objects with beaded images of frogs, lizards and leopards. Yet even as the Bamum absorbed new ideas, they maintained a strong sense of their own identity.

Mbuembue made conquered artists Bamum

King Mbuembue (hm-BOM-bo) expanded the Bamum kingdom by conquering neighboring peoples. Mbuembue gave the finest conquered artists special positions in the Bamum court.

Conquered artists added their own touch to the things they made for Bamum rulers. The artists of the Pamenyam (PAH-may-nyam) specialized in beadwork. When King Mbuembue conquered this people, he made their artists work exclusively for his court. The Pamenyam bead artists became Bamum; their descendants work in Fumban to this day.

"Warfare is my business. I will draw the borders of my kingdom with iron swords and spears and blood. If a country's boundaries are drawn with words, sooner or later they vanish."

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Graphic by Kimberly Townsend.

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