The Painted Houses of Tiébélé: A Model for Communal Collaboration
In the south of Burkina Faso, sharing borders with the northern environs of Ghana is Tiébélé; a small village exhibiting fractal patterns of circular and rectangular buildings, housing one of the oldest ethnic groups in West Africa; the Kassena tribe. With vernacular houses dating back to the 15th century, the village’s buildings strike a distinctive character through its symbol-laden painted walls. It is an architecture of wall decoration where the community uses their building envelope as a canvas for geometric shapes and symbols of local folklore, expressing the culture’s history and unique heritage. This architecture is the product of a unique form of communal collaboration, where all men and women in the community are tasked with contributing to the construction and finishing of any new house. This practice serves as a transmission point for Kassena culture across generations.
![The Painted Houses of Tiébélé: A Model for Communal Collaboration](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/6494/1a8d/5921/1807/28a9/a11a/medium_jpg/the-painted-houses-of-tiebele-a-model-for-communal-collaboration_5.jpg?1687427729#)
![The Painted Houses of Tiébélé. Image © tumblr The Painted Houses of Tiébélé. Image © tumblr](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/6494/1a8d/5921/1807/28a9/a11a/medium_jpg/the-painted-houses-of-tiebele-a-model-for-communal-collaboration_5.jpg?1687427729)
In the south of Burkina Faso, sharing borders with the northern environs of Ghana is Tiébélé; a small village exhibiting fractal patterns of circular and rectangular buildings, housing one of the oldest ethnic groups in West Africa; the Kassena tribe. With vernacular houses dating back to the 15th century, the village’s buildings strike a distinctive character through its symbol-laden painted walls. It is an architecture of wall decoration where the community uses their building envelope as a canvas for geometric shapes and symbols of local folklore, expressing the culture’s history and unique heritage. This architecture is the product of a unique form of communal collaboration, where all men and women in the community are tasked with contributing to the construction and finishing of any new house. This practice serves as a transmission point for Kassena culture across generations.