Central African Republic

The Block

A multitude of delicate butterfly wings, each painstakingly arranged and glued by Rosalie Yonaba Bernier, forms a typical village scene of women performing a ritual task. Butterfly art, an original and popular art form in the Central African Republic, evolved during a unique, annual phenomenon in which millions of butterflies fill the sky during the months of October and November. Like falling snow, the butterflies, having lived their natural lifespan, fall to the ground where their gossamer wings are carefully collected and used to create beautiful works of art. Animals, people and scenes of rural life are the most frequently used themes, but while subjects may appear similar, the extensive variety of un-endangered species means no two finished products are exactly alike.

Colourful cotton fabrics frame the central scene, the distinctively African designs echoing the butterfly theme. Such brightly patterned cottons, fashioned into boubous, foulards and shirts have ultimately replaced raffia cloth as the most popular clothing fabric.

Cultural Profile

The Central African Republic (CAR), which was formerly the French colony of Ubangi-Shari, is a landlocked nation situated at almost the precise centre of Africa. It is slightly smaller than Manitoba and most of its terrain consists of an undulating plateau with dense tropical forest in the south and a semi-desert area in the east. A haven for numerous species of wildlife, the CAR is considered to be one of the last great refuges of the African elephant. It is also one of Africa’s most lightly populated countries, although its people compose a complex ethnic mosaic. There are approximately 80 different groups, including the Baya, Banda, Sara, Mandija, Mboum and Mbaka. Each tribe has its own dialect, although French is the official language and Sangho is the national language spoken by most Central Africans.

The CAR has faced tumultuous decades of misrule and the return of order continues to be an ongoing process. Most of the country’s population is concentrated in the western part of the land and almost half of the people inhabit small villages, living and working according to traditional customs. The overwhelming majority is involved in subsistence agriculture, growing cassava (manioc), peanuts or maize. Together with forestry, food crops remain the backbone of the nation’s economy. Coffee is the most important cash crop while the diamond industry accounts for more than half of export earnings.

Years of colonization disrupted the development of crafts in the CAR. Though some have disappeared, others such as basketry, gold and diamond work, stool carving and pottery and musical instruments have stood the test of time. Fascinating and unusual musical instruments are made in the country, such as the balafon, similar to a xylophone, the mbela, where a string is attached in a wooden arc and struck, or the rhythmic and entrancing ongo, a trumpet made of tree roots. Ebony carving is a testimony to the richness of the forests of Central African Republic.

Butterfly art, often called teneyambi collage after this region of the country, is another form of handicraft specific to CAR. The country is home to 597 known species of butterflies, so they are a natural – and earth-friendly! – material for people to pick up from the ground where they fell and assemble into fascinating scenes. Professional hunters also gather the insects and resell them to artists. The wings are then glued onto paper, sometimes using sap, another earth-friendly material.

Though they have been coming to Canada for many years, Central Africans’ numbers remain very small.

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