Dogon art is primarily sculpture that revolves around religious values,
ideals, and freedoms.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES [ edit ]
Describe the characteristics of Dogon art, sculpture, and masquerades.
Defend the importance of secrecy in the construction of Dogon sculpture.
KEY POINTS [ edit ]
Dogon sculptures are not made to be seen publicly, and are commonly hidden from the public eye
within the houses of families, sanctuaries, or kept with the hogon (spiritual leader).
Due to the expense, their traditional funeral rituals (or damas) are becoming very rare. They may
be performed years after the death.
The traditional dama consists of a masquerade that essentially leads the souls of the departed to
their final resting places through a series of ritual dances and rites.
The Sirigie mask is a tall mask that is only used in funerals for the men that were alive during the
holding of the Siguiceremony. The Kanaga masqueraders, at one point, dance and sit next to the
bundkamba, which represents the deceased.
TERMS [ edit ]
vessel
A general term for all kinds of craft designed for transportation on water, such as ships or boats.
Tellem
The people who inhabited the Bandiagara Escarpment in Mali.
Give us feedback on this content: FULL TEXT [edit ]
The Dogon are an ethnic group living in the central plateau region of the country of Mali, in
the West of the Continent of Africa. They are best known for their religious traditions,
wooden sculpture, architecture, and
funeral masquerades. The past century has
seen significant changes in the social
organization, material culture and beliefs
of the Dogon, partly because Dogon
country is one of Mali's major tourist
attractions.
Dogon sculpture
Dogon art is primarily sculptural, and
revolves around religiousvalues, ideals,
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and freedoms. Dogon sculptures are not made to be seen publicly, and are commonly hidden
from the public eye within the houses of families, sanctuaries, or kept with the hogon (a
spiritual leader of the Dogon people). The importance of secrecy is due to the symbolic
meaning behind the pieces and the process by which they are made. Dogon sculptures are
typically characterized by an elongation of form and a mix of geometric and figurative images
.
Dogon Sculpture
Dogon sculptures are typically characterized by an elongation of form and a mix of geometric and
figurative images.
Themes found throughout Dogon sculpture consist of figures with raised arms, superimposed
bearded figures, horsemen, stools with caryatids, women with children, figures covering their
faces, women grinding pearl millet, women bearing vesselson their heads, donkeys bearing
cups, musicians, dogs, quadruped-shaped troughs or benches, figures bending from the
waist, mirror-images, apron-wearing figures, and standing figures. Signs of other contacts
and origins are evident in Dogon art: the Dogon people were not the first inhabitants of the
area, and influence from Tellem art is evident in the use of rectilineardesigns.
Funeral masquerade
The traditional funeral rituals of the Dogon are known as dama,and consist of a masquerade
that essentially leads the souls of the departed to their final resting places through a series of
ritual dances and rites. Dogon damas include the use of many masks, which they wear by
securing them in their teeth, and statuettes. Each Dogon village may differ in the designs of
the masks used in the dama ritual. Every village may have their own way of performing the
dama rituals. The dama consists of an event, known as the halic, immediately after the death
of a person and lasts for one day.
Due to the expense, the traditional funeral rituals (or damas) are becoming very rare, and
may be performed years after the death. Damas that are still performed today are not usually
performed for their original intent, but instead are done as a source of entertainment for
tourists interested in the Dogon way of life. The Dogon use this entertainment to make
money by charging tourists for which masks they want to see and for the ritual itself.
According to Shawn R. Davis, a particular ritual incorporates the elements of the yingim and
the danyim. During the yincomoli ceremony, a gourd is smashed over the deceased's wooden
bowl, hoe, and bundukamba (burial blanket), announcing the entrance of the masks used in
this ceremony, while the entrance to the deceased's home in the family compound is
decorated with ritual elements. Masks used during the yincomoli ceremony include the Yana
Gulay mask, the Satimbe mask, the Sirigie mask, and the Kanaga mask. The Yana Gulay
mask's purpose is to impersonate a Fulani woman and is made from cotton cloth and cowell
shells. The Satimbe mask represents the women ancestors who are said to have discovered
the purpose of the masks by guiding the spirits of the deceased into the afterlife. The Sirigie
mask is a tall mask that is only used in funerals for the men that were alive during the holding
of the Sigui ceremony. The Kanaga masqueraders, at one point, dance and sit next to the
bundukamba, which represents the deceased.
The yingim and the danyim rituals each last a few days. These events are held annually to
honor the elders that have died since the last dama. The yingim consists of the sacrifice of
cows, or other valuable animals, and large mock battles performed in order to help chase the
spirit, known as the nyama, from the deceased body and the village, and towards the path to
the afterlife. The danyim then takes place a couple of months later. During the danyim,
masqueraders perform dances every morning and evening for up to six days. The
masqueraders dance on the deceased's rooftops, throughout the village, and the area of fields
around the village. Until the masqueraders have completed their dances and every ritual has
been performed, it is said that any misfortune can be blamed on the remaining spirits of the
dead.