Making the Bedu collection at Brighton Museum 

The masks in the Brighton & Hove Museums' collection were purchased from their makers by anthropologist Karel Arnaut during the course of his fieldwork in Côte d'Ivoire between 1992 and 1995. It started as a research collection to document the present state of craft production in the Bondoukou region.

Most of the objects were either purchased from the makers (sculptors, weavers, blacksmiths or other artisans) or bought at the local market. A number of the older objects such as the drums, were given as gifts.

The collection is the result of active collaboration and sometimes lively negotiation between the makers and the anthropologist. The makers were informed of the proposed destination of the objects and the kind of budget that the collector was working on for the museum.

These notes are all directly derived from Karel Arnaut's research. The photographs are also his.

Masks, Keepsakes inspired by Bedu,                         Dabila Ouattara, 1994 WA506955, WA506951	Drums donated to the collection by the performers

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