African Arts Gallery

African art among the Dogon.
More than eighty types of African masks are listed among the Dogon, the best known of which are the Kanaga, Sirigé, Satimbé, Walu. Most of them are used by circumcised society insiders Awa , during funeral ceremonies. The Awa refers to the masks, their costumes, and all the Dogons in the service of the masks. Some evoke animals, in reference to the rich cosmogony and mythology of African dogon art. The mask's life force, the U-002nyamaU,0022, is activated by various rituals to develop the object's full magical potential. This copy is one of the many stylistic variations of dogon masks, icons of dogon tribal art. In heavy wood with a dry surface, rough lines consist of a forehead whose protruding is triangular cavities on either side of the classic soaring nose. The mouth with the lips ajar protrudes. Grainy patina. The Dogons are a people renowned for their cosmogony, esotericism, myths and legends. Their population is estimated at about 300,000 souls living southwest of the Niger Loop in the Mopti region of Mali (Bandiagara, Koro, Banka), near Douentza and part of northern Burkina (northwest of Ouahigouya). Villages are often perched atop the scree at the edge of the hills, according to a unique architecture. The history of migration and the facilities of the Dogon (about ten main groups, fifteen different languages), relates to several hypotheses. According to some historians, the Dogons fled from an area west of their present location as a result of an assault.