The village of Tiébélé is home to the Kassena people, one of the oldest ethnic groups that settled in the Burkina Faso borderlands in the 15th century. Tiébélé is known for its Gourounsi architecture, with its elaborately decorated walls. Burkina Faso is a poor country, and is considered one of the poorest in the world. Although poor in material things, it is rich in culture.
For the people here, decorating the walls of their houses is an indispensable part of their cultural life. Decorating the walls of the house is a common work done by women, it is an ancient activity that originated around the 16th century AD.
The Kassena built their houses entirely with available materials such as earth, wood and straw. Mud mixed with straw and cow dung was, for the Kassena, an excellent plaster. Nowadays, this building material has been replaced by bricks, stones and solid foundations.
The mud houses of Tiébélé village were built to withstand the harsh weather as well as the enemy. The walls are more than 30cm thick, these houses are designed without windows except for one or two small holes to let light through.
The front door of the house is usually only about 70cm high, the door is designed like that to block direct sunlight, and at the same time make it difficult for enemies to attack. The roof is protected by wooden ladders, which make it easy to withdraw the ladder when necessary. Drinks such as wine or beer are brewed and brewed at home by the people.
After the house is built, the woman will have the task of decorating the walls using colored mud or white chalk. The decorative images on the walls are usually activities of daily life or religious symbols….
Once the walls are decorated, the entire surface of the house is repainted with a natural lacquer made from boiled Néré beans combined with African acacia. The wall decoration must be completed before the rainy season to protect the walls from erosion by rainwater.
Some pictures of houses in Tiébélé village:
An Tu(According toHandeye Magazine)
