Art and Iconography

The baobabs are spectacular trees, often with evocative local names. They are an inspiration to artists, photographers, writers and advertising agents. The baobab is widely used as a motif on stamps, coins, bank notes, medals and the like. It has lent its name and shape to tourist agents, hotels, restaurants, cafes, publishers and other businesses; a school, École française le Baobab, at Bafoussam, Cameroon, an oilfield 25 km off Ivory Coast, an organisation called Baobab for Woman’s Human Rights based in Lagos, and a network learning facility. In Senegal there was the popular Afro-Latin band known as Orchestra Baobab, formed in 1970 and disbanded in 1987, while from Guinea there is the Circus Baobab which tours Europe. In Cameroon, according to Farenkia (2005), to call a person a baobab is to praise him for some outstanding achievement, while in South Africa, baobab is an acronym for somebody who is ‘bald and old, buggered and broke’ (Mayne 2007, personal communication). There is even a computer virus called Baobab.

The famous Avenue des Baobabs near Morondava features in several advertisements, including one for the Renault car.

Since 1960 Derby, Western Australia, has held an annual Boab Festival providing amenities and entertainment, and giving publicity to the region.