Tabaski Ram

This piece came from a photograph Chatelain took the eve of the Tabaski festival in Bamako, Mali. The Tabaski festival is the most important Muslim celebration, and it commemorates Abraham's willingness to sarifice his only son. Rams are individually raised throughout the year by men and women who treat them just as their pets. These "pets" are then sacrificed for the glory of God. Many beautiful rams are brought to the capital and sold the evening before the festival. On the morning of the Tabaski, after prayers at the mosque, the rams are sacrificed at the entrance of each compound. This man brought his ram into the capital to be sold.

Quilt was on loan from Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry