Tribal Art

Basketry helmet, topped with an animal figure rising from a cap. Textile underlines the contours of the headdress, and girdles the head of an animal. The latter is streaked with intersecting lines. Velvety matt patina. Piece collected in 1986 on the Bandiagara cliff.
The Dogon people are renowned in African tribal art for the myths and beliefs relating to their cosmogony.
His 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).More than 80 types of masks have been listed, the best known of which are the Kanaga , Sirigé , Satimbé , Walu . Most of them are used by the circumcised initiates of the Awa society, during funeral ceremonies. Some represent animals, in reference to the rich mythology of African Dogon art. The "nyama", the vital force of the mask, is activated by various rituals in order to develop the full magical potential of the object.
On the occasion of a Dama, a ritual marking the end of a mourning period, the Dogon sculpt new masks.
Litt. "Dogon" Huib Blom; "Art of the Dogon" ed. The Metropolitan Museum; "Dogon" ed. Somogy.