These trumpets belonged to members of the Kòmò association of the Bamana peoples in Mali. Kòmò is one of several power organizations that exist throughout West Africa, whose objects, installations, and performances aim at bringing about change in the life of a person or a community. Because such organizations transmit secret knowledge about the tangible and intangible worlds, membership requires prolonged initiation. Kòmò, one of most influential associations, is led by blacksmiths. Through their profession, smiths work with fire, ore, water, and air. Thanks to their deep empirical and spiritual understanding of the elements, they are able to control nyama, the vital energy that animates the universe. Often described as dangerous, nyama can be turned positive through expertise, and harnessed into power objects that work in the world on behalf of their users. Kòmò-buru (Kòmò horns) are such power objects; they receive offerings of chewed kola nuts and liquids to activate their nyama (energy).

Kòmò-buru generally occur in sets of three, of different sizes, but it is unclear if all three are blown together. Used as musical instruments, they play with drums at Kòmò performances, where music is an important component of the effect produced. As power objects, trumpets can assist in divination, communicate mystically between members, or punish sorcerers from a distance. In southern Bamana areas, trumpets are usually carved in wood, while to the north, they are forged in thin iron, like these. Sound is produced by vibrating one’s lips in the mouthpiece located on the side, below the top. The trumpets often terminate in one or two twisted iron elements that resemble animal horns. Yet, what a Bamana smith once said about the Kòmò mask, also holds true for the Kòmò trumpet: “[It] is made to look like an animal. But it is not an animal; it is a secret.”