Art of the Dogon

BOOK REVIEW 

Title: Art of the Dogon 

Author: Jan Baptist Bedaux 

Year of publication: 2012 

Paperback: 368 pages 

Language: English 

Synopsis(Some information by the author himself): 

My name is Jan Baptist Bedaux and I would like to tell you something about my new book  Art of the Dogon. A private collection of Dogon material culture, Bedaux Art Editions, Brussels 2012, 368 pp, 745 ills. in full colour, hard cover 30 x 30 cm, ISBN/EAN 978-90-818531-0-, that will appear in January 2012.

In the summer of 1975 I had my first encounter with the cultures of the Dogon and Tellem. This was at Utrecht University’s Institute for Human Biology, whose exhibition represented over ten years’ research by the institute’s staff in the Republic of Mali in the area where the Dogon live and before them the Tellem.

The exhibition showed a wealth of items that had been placed in the caves as grave gifts for the Tellem dead – artefacts that were a constant inspiration to me when I founded my collection. In the same year, I acquired my first Tellem neckrests, which were included two years later in the Tellem exhibition in the Afrika Museum in Berg en Dal. These were soon followed by the first statues, which I bought in Paris from Michel Huguenin, Félicia Dialossin and Robert Duperrier.

My 35 years of collecting since then have created a collection that gives a broad view of the material culture of the Dogon and Tellem.

In my view, the value of the collection lies not just in its breadth, but also in the sheer variety of items. For, when compiling it, I was always guided by my ongoing fascination with the wide diversities within the Tellem and Dogon cultures.

The book contains 745 illustrations and descriptions of 650 objects spread over 368 pages. The cost is 95 € (without shipping).

Almost none of the items were ever published before. I am sure the collection will surprise you.

For a taste of Art of the Dogon click here (pdf).

As a bonus you get a signed copy when you buy through the website www.bedauxart.nl

©Text: Bedaux Art

DOGON Exhibition at quai Branly

Exhibition: DOGON
Dates: 5 April to 24 July 2011

Opening times: Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday 11 to 19h, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 11 to 21h

Place: Musée du quai Branly, 37 quai Branly, Paris (France)

Entrance fee:  7 €

Webpage: www.quaibranly.fr

About the exhibition:

The DOGON exhibition presents Dogon culture and art history from the 10th century until today through more than 330 exceptional pieces from international collections and presented together for the first time in France.

Dogon area (Mali) art ranks among the best known art created by African cultures. The art from the Dogon area is considered as one of the best known art created by African cultures. Along with the masterpieces that have brought fame to Dogon art, the exhibition presents cultural and daily life objects that reflect the metaphysical and aesthetic concerns of the populations who made them. The typology of these objects, made with various and complex techniques, has rarely been revealed in light of the main pieces of the statuary ensemble.

Over ten centuries of settlement history, of artistic and cultural influences are thus explored through a unique ensemble of essential masterpieces and unseen daily life objects that reflect the progressive settlement of Dogon area and the richness of its stylistic.

The exhibition created by the musée du quai Branly shows the whole force of sculptural art developed by the Dogon, whether made of wood or metal, or expressed in large impressive pieces or powerful small objects.

In the 2000 m2 Garden Gallery, the DOGON exhibition is set in three great thematic parts representing the culture and art history of the Dogon people through a variety of artistic outputs.

INTRODUCTION: DOGON MIGRATIONS, ORIGINS AND HISTORY

Recent historical research on West Africa has revealed that populations in various areas of the region were not isolated. Migration waves, caravan itineraries, long-distance commercial trade and exchanges with other Bandiagara peoples had left behind an intricate network of contacts long before the arrival of Europeans. This is how the Dogon peoples could benefit from assets brought about by neighbouring civilizations.

FIRST PART: STATUARY STYLES IN DOGON AREA

Beyond the apparent unity of a common identity built over the centuries, the statues in this part of the exhibition reveal the remarkable creativity of Dogon people and the great diversity of its artistic production. It explores the underlying complexity of Dogon area, falsely perceived as a cultural continuum.

Divided in different styles corresponding to diverse groups of people or geographical zones, 133 exceptional sculptures exemplify this wealth of diversity: Djennenke, N’Duleri, Tombo, Niongom and Tellem, Gogon-Mande, Tintam, Bombou Toro, Kambari, Komakan, and the styles of the Séno plain and escarpment.

Upon their arrival in the Bandiagara plateau, the Dogon encountered groups already living in the region and having developed a material culture.

In the cliff’s area, Tellem sculptures and textiles found in the sanctuaries coexist with Niongom and Mande Dogon art, while Djennenke sculptures in the North of the plateau and Tombo pieces in its centre derive from different migration waves.

SECOND PART: ANTHROPOLOGIST FASCINATION: PAINTINGS AND MASKS

In the West, the emerging interest for Dogon art, from the 1893 Bandiagara conquest onwards is, above all, a scientific pursuit, fully expressed by the Dakar-Djibouti Mission (1931-1933). This part of the exhibition explores the institutional methods used during the gathering of the first collections, which were the first step towards spreading knowledge on Dogon art in the West.

Two figures of the anthropological imagination, Louis Desplagnes and Marcel Griaule, exemplify how Dogon art captured European curiosity and taste.

* Rupestral paintings

In 1907, in his book entitled Le plateau central nigérien, Louis Desplagnes tells about how he started the very first research on Dogon area arts and cultures after an expedition in the Bandiagara region. He unveiled cave art, remarkable for the liveliness and energy of its expression. His collections were then handed to the ethnography Museum of the Trocadéro.

About twenty rupestral paintings are presented in this subsection.

* Masks

In Masques dogons (1938), Marcel Griaule introduces a very precise ethnographic typology.

Favoured research subject, the Dogon mask plays a role in laying the foundations of this specific ethnological practice. 35 Dogon masks recall the classification proposed in his book.

THIRD PART: VESSELS OF THE SACRED, COLLECTION ITEMS

Along with scientific endeavours and new field research missions, the fascination for Dogon objects and sculptures is increasing. Collectors are not only seeking statuary Dogon objects, but also unique objects. A 35-minutes montage of excerpts from Jean Rouch’s Dama d’Ambarra (1974) adds to the first part of this sequence.

The 140 objects exposed in the last section reveal that Dogon sculptors tend to express the original myth when creating daily life objects and architectural components such as jewels, bronze and iron objects, pulleys, doors, locks, seats, headrests, animal sculptures, altars, arches, cups and plates. They evoke the same magical and theological subjects as the sculptures displayed in the first part.

At the end of the itinerary, the Pillars of Togu Na, the “House of Words” –open-construction built at the centre of Dogon villages - lead to the musée du quai Branly’s Djennenke statue, essential masterpiece of Dogon area art.

© Text and image: www.quaibranly.fr

La vie sur terre

FILM REVIEW
Title: La vie sur terre (Life on Earth)

Director: Abderrahmane Sissako

Writer: Abderrahmane Sissako

Year: 1998

Running time: 61 minutes

Country: Mauritania

Plot summary:

In the last days of 1999, after a few shots of a French supermarket, abundant in food and color, we hear Dramane compose a letter home to his father in Mali whom he then visits in the village of Sokolo. He meets the lovely Nana, and there are possibilities. People place long-distance calls from the post office. "Reaching people," says the postmaster, "is a matter of luck." Contrasts between Paris and Sokolo - between Mali and France and between Africa and Europe - are underscored by voice-over poems and comments by Aimé Césaire. A man dictates a letter to a brother in France: what is the nature of their hardships? People look for their place on this earth.

© Text: IMDB

Watch film on: http://youtu.be/iz4rhZXAfT4

Watch images of the film with music from Salif Keita's Folon.

Arts d’Afrique, voir l’invisible

Exhibition: Arts d’Afrique, voir l’invisible
Dates: 23 March to 21 August 2011

Opening times: 11-18h, every day except Monday

Place: Musée d’Aquitaine, 20 cours Pasteur, Bordeaux (France)

Entrance fee: 5 €

Webpage: www.bordeaux.fr

About the exhibition:

By bringing together over 200 extraordinary works of art - the biggest ever presented to the public - from major European public and private collections, the Musée d'Aquitaine offers an original reading of African creativity. Its report to the invisible, revealing a unique world view, is essential to understand and discover the wealth of past and present cultures of the African continent.

These objects of extraordinary variety of shapes and functions, including the oldest dating from the 11th century (statue Soninke of Mali) and the production extended to the mid 20th century, are the direct operators of traditional authentic ceremonials, such as initiations (masks nature spirits, some with their ritual costumes), ancestor worship (protective statues, male or female honored on altars), magic or divination (fetishes defense or attack, the body charged with nails and "medicine"), that make them irreplaceable in African thought, as well as masterpieces of universal art.

© Text and image: Musée d’Aquitaine

Finyé

Title: Finyé (The Wind)

Director: Souleymane Cissé

Writer: Souleymane Cissé

Year: 1982

Running time: 100 minutes

Country: Mali

Plot summary:

The film tells the story of a love affair between two teenage students, the daughter of an Army commander and the grandson of a village elder. This narrative at once picks up on the central issues of life in Mali and many other African countries – questions about the effectiveness of administration and lack of democracy in states run by military regimes and also the clash between ideas of ‘modernity’ and ‘tradition’.

The film also marks a shift taking place between ‘social realism’ – recognisable from its European roots – and a more ‘metaphysical’ cinema, alert to the ideas and images of African culture. So, while the military authorities are rounding up students in scenes familiar from European or American films, the hero’s grandfather is communicating with the spirits in the trees.

© Text: http://itpworld.wordpress.com/2003/02/02/finye-the-wind-mali-1982/

Entretiens avec Pierre Robin

Title: Entretiens avec Pierre Robin

Author: Pierre Brennetot

Year of publication: 2010

Paperback: 66 pages

Language: French

Price: € 15.00

Synopsis:

Pierre Robin was a tribal art dealer for almost forty years in Paris. Now retired to the south of France, he tells of his beginnings, his career, his travels,... He recalls his meetings with many personalities from the world of art and his passion for sculpture of the Bozo of Mali. With great humour and verve, he reveals through these interviews, his tribulations in the world of "distant arts".

An excerpt from the title by Pierre Brennetot:
Pierre Robin was still installed at rue Jacques Callot, in the district of Saint-Germain-des-Pres, when I met him for the first time. He was one of the few merchants to have the door of his gallery still open and receive the Africans with their big bags full of items. Upon retirement in the Tarn, Pierre Robin received me many times. I have always been enthusiastic about the man, his life, his collection,... At each visit, in passing from one room to another of his house, he told me stories about the world of antiques in Paris. Thus came the idea of this book.
He was an actor in this period where objects "coming out" in Africa and elsewhere, where there was still making discoveries, when the travel permit to bring quantities of objects ... I, who am of a different generation (he was my father's age!), was always fascinated by this period. Today it's hard to imagine such excitement at the opening of boxes,... Collectors and dealers were enthusiastic, prices of items were affordable and if one had the eye and taste, he could make a nice collection,...
But Pierre Robin does not live deep in the past. He kept the flame of passion objects. It is now known in the area of African art for its collection of Bozo of Mali. This art so gay, so colorful, so bold, Robin loves it. Others decry these objects? Good for him! He knows that tastes change and in a few years everyone will say "ah, if I had known..."

His house is not a dusty shrine, but the world of a great "showman" as he likes to call himself. Everywhere on the walls, consoles, shelves, objects of different civilizations and different eras meet. Regularly it moves objects, for fun, to meet new people... African Art lovers may be confused by this accumulation, it is far from the collection "classic", and then Pierre Robin has sold thousands of items, mainly to finally keep its Bozo.
I wanted to write about this life of art researcher, adventurer, atypical gallery owner, so I recorded Pierre Robin during several "sessions" by preparing in advance a few questions, then finally leaving me go to a free conversation. 

Pierre Robin also gave me the opportunity to freely photograph his collection. Always enthusiastic, he shared with me his passion and a little time...

Fonio Casserole

What's fonio?
White fonio (Digitaria exilis) is the most important of a diverse group of wild and domesticated Digitaria species that are harvested in the savannas of west Africa, and considered to be the oldest cereal here. Fonio is the smallest of all species of millet. It is one of the primary cereals of southern Sudan and Ethiopia in Africa. It has potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable use of the land.
Fonio has continued to be important locally because it is both nutritious and one of the world's fastest growing cereals, reaching maturity in as little as six to eight weeks. It is a crop that can be relied on in semi-arid areas with poor soils, where rains are brief and unreliable. The grains are used in porridge and couscous, for bread, and for beer.
Some regions in which this crop is important are the Fouta Djallon region of Guinea and the Akposso area of Togo. It is much used in Guinea, where it is eaten at nearly every possible meal.
The small grains make it difficult and time-consuming to remove the husk. Traditional methods include pounding it in a mortar with sand (then separating the grains and sand) or "popping" it over a flame and then pounding it (which yields a toasted color grain; this technique is used among the Akposso).
According to the mythology of the Dogon people of Mali, among whom it is known as pō tolo, the supreme creator of the universe, Amma, made the entire universe by exploding a single grain of fonio, located inside the "egg of the world".

The recipe: Fonio Casserole 
(by http://shellyfish.wordpress.com/)
•1 cup Fonio
•5 cups vegetable broth
•2 large carrots, diced
•1 large onion, chopped
•450g/1lb cooked garbanzo beans, well rinsed if canned
•1 can chopped tomatoes
•chopped garlic (up to your garlic preferences)
•1 tablespoon cumin
•1 teaspoon cayenne
•2 teaspoons turmeric
•1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
•1/2 cup fresh parsley, mixed in just before serving
Mix everything in a casserole dish, cover, and bake at about 350ºF/180ºC for 35min. Take it out and give it a stir, add some water if it’s looking dry, and put it back in until the carrots are tender, probably about a half an hour depending on the size of your carrot chunks. Let it sit a few minutes (like, while you’re chopping & rinsing your parsley), and add the parsley. Then it's already prepared and it can serve as a side dish for any good meat.

The DOGON of Mali and Burkina Fasso

PEOPLES OF THE WORLD
Name: Dogon
Living Area: Mali and Burkina Fasso (Africa)
Population: 400.000 - 800.000
Language: Dogon (related to Mandé and Gur languages)
First european contact: Krause (1860s)
Comments: The Dogon people live in the region of the semi-arid Bandiagara plateau and sandstone cliffs, and in the Seno-Gondo plain. As soon as the 15th century, the Dogon already inhabited the Bandiagara cliffs region, although they had previously replaced an older population known as the Tellem (which lived there from the 11th century, and whose textile remains, such as burial blankets and clothing, are considered the oldest organic materials from archaeological contexts preserved in sub-Saharan Africa). Even an older population, named the Tolloy, is said to have previously lived in the area.
The Dogon live in rectangular mudbrick or stone/mud-covered buildings in small villages near the cultivated parcels and water supplies. They cultivate and recollect mainly millet, which they store in big grain stores. Onions, peppers, carrots, lettuce and cabbage are grown for sale at local markets. Domestic animals include goats, donkeys, some cattle, and chickens. Wild fruits and plants complement the diet and serve as traditional medicine. Hunting is not of economic importance, but brings prestige.
Several crafts are practiced by the Dogon. Weaving is typically a male craft. While women spin the cotton, it is the men who are responsible for weaving long bands of cloth. Pottery making is mainly a female craft. The blacksmiths make and repair agricultural tools, jewellery and other metal products. Also, they are responsible for woodwork, such as producing masks and statues. Leatherworkers fabricate bags, sheaths for knifes, saddles, and shoes among other items. In recent years blacksmiths as well as leatherworkers, have become more and more involved in the production and trade of souvenirs. The souvenir-trade has become an important source of income and employment in Mali. Many young Dogon earn their living as guides. In the villages, facilities for tourists have been created, providing a significant source of income for some.
Though much influenced by Islam, there are some christian villages and some other remain still practising their ancestral animist religion that worships creator god Amma.
Historically studied by french anthropologists, the great affluence of these among the dogon resulted in a well-known joke: "Do you know how many people live in a Dogon house? Five: the parents, two children and the french anthropologist".
Both men and women get circumcised during their childhood. Dogon myth explains the necessity to remove the female element (the prepuce) from a boy’s body to enable him to become a man. Similarly, the removal of the clitoris, thought to be the male element in girls, is considered necessary for them to become women. The excision of girls takes place within the villages, in contrast to circumcision ceremonies, that take place outside the village boundaries. Although circumcision is justified by Dogon myth and therefore appears long established, it is possible that this ritual has been adopted only in the more recent past under the influence of Islam and merged with local initiation rites.
Well-known by: their mask dances at the occasion o funerary festivals (such as the nyou yama, dama, or the Sigui). The Sigui is the most important ceremony of the Dogon. It takes place every 60 years and can take several years. The last one started in 1967 and ended in 1973, the next one will start in 2027. The Sigui ceremony symbolises the death of the first ancestor till the moment that humanity acquired the use of the spoken word. The Sigui is a long procession that starts and ends in the village of Youga Dogorou and goes from one village to the other during several months or years. All men wear masks and dance in long processions. The Sigui has a secret language, Sigui So, that women are not allowed to learn. Some men, called the Olubaru, form the secret society of Sigui that plays a central role in the ceremony. They prepare the ceremonies a long time in advance, and they live for three months hidden outside of the villages while nobody is allowed to see them. The villagers are afraid of them and fear is cultivated by a prohibition to go out at night, when sounds warn that the Olubaru are out. The most important mask that plays a major role in the Sigui rituals is the Great Mask or the Mother of Masks. It is several meters long and is just held up by hand and not used to hide a face. This mask is newly created every 60 years.
Some words in their language:
hello: seuw
my name is ... : boy ma ...
yes: ha
no: ay
au revoir: konè
Learn more about them at: Dogon article in Wikipedia