Origin: Dogon

Local name:
MŻo/A/3594: antelope (walu)
MŻo/A/3596: anthropomorphic (kanaga)
MŻo/A/3597: hare (nã)

Dating:
MŻo/A/3594: 1990s.
MŻo/A/3596: 1990s
MŻo/A/3597: 2nd half 20th century

Dimensions:
MŻo/A/3594: height 46.0 cm, width 18.0 cm, depth 14.0 cm
MŻo/A/3596: height 96.0 cm, width 51.0 cm, depth 19.5 cm
MŻo/A/3597: height 44.0 cm, width 18.0 cm, depth 12.5 cm

Made of: wood, plant fibres

Techniques: carving

Obtained from:
MŻo/A/3594: Jacek Łapott, farm, Banani (Mali), 2001.
MŻo/A/3596: Jacek Łapott, farm, Ireli (Mali), 2001.
MŻo/A/3597: Jacek Łapott, farm, Ireli (Mali), 1996.

Description:

Many ethnologists, based on conversations with the Dogon people, claim that masks are a mainstay of the Dogon culture, an important part of their identity. It is difficult to disagree with this thesis, but it should be remembered that masks appear only in the Bandiagara Cliffs. “There is a rich mythology associated with masks, as they are a physical representation of the metaphysical world in human reality. The world of masks is an image of the cosmos in Dogon way of thinking, it is a copy of the real world evoking social emotions. This world is evolving just like the surrounding reality” [Buchalik 2011: 235]. The world of masks is a world that responds vividly to ongoing changes - when ethnologists and doctors appeared along with the colonialists, the masks of madame, ethnologist and doctor also appeared, even though the medicine man's mask already existed. When Mali regained independence, a policeman mask with Mali's national colours appeared. The presented masks come from a traditional set of masks that most often appear during funeral ceremonies or performances for tourists.

The walu mask depicts a gazelle. The geometric face resembles a "story house" mask (sirige - dgs). “The two corners rising parallel are decorated with a spiral drawing. There are alternating black and white triangles on the edges and forehead. The red eye sockets are divided by the nose, which is covered with black and white spots” [Buchalik et al. 2012: 88].

Here is the myth about the origin of the walu mask: "In a village in the Yougo region, men raised sheep and goats. When the animals went out to pasture, an antelope came and killed many of them with its horns. The men then said: To catch the antelope, let's dig a hole and put the goat inside. Because antelope likes to prick with her horns, she will go down into the hole to prick the goat, and then we will catch her and slaughter her. The hole was dug, the antelope came running. As she approached, one of the women repeated to the men: It's dangerous to come across a walu. The animal entered the hole, but it was not deep enough - without harming the goat, the walu jumped out of it. The men blocked her path and one of them injured her. Then, in a fit of anger, the animal ripped open his belly. Other hunters killed the antelope. Later, the deceased's nani fell ill. The diviners said that these were the effects of a nyama (animal) and that a mask representing the animal had to be carved. This was done, and then the patient's relatives acted as in the case of the gomtogo mask” [Griaule 1994: 446-447].

Kanaga is considered “the most popular of the Dogon masks. It comes in several varieties in different villages. The mask depicts a kommolo tebu bird with spread wings. Its beak and paws are red, its wings are white, and its forehead is black. The crest, made of stiff red and yellow fibres, extends from one cheek to the other across the top of the skull. Protruding from it are flat and narrow shafts in the shape of a Lorraine cross, the arms of which are ended with four wooden poles pointing up and down, decorated with vertical lines at the ends. The poles are often topped with an anthropomorphic or animal statuette. The white colour of the cross resembles the colour of the bird's belly and wings, and the black squares refer to the colour of the back. The fibres of the garment may be red or black. In addition to the head covering, the kanaga also consists of indigo-dyed trousers, fibre skirts, and fibre bracelets worn on the wrists, forearms, and ankles. The dancer wears suspenders embroidered with cowrie shells on his chest, and his chest is covered with an element made of baobab fruit halves painted black. In his hands he holds fly swatter made of cow's tail. In the myth, a hunter falls ill after killing a kommolo tebu bird. To combat the disease, he makes his image from a wood and sacrifices it on the Gyinu altar” [Buchalik et al. 2012: 57-94].

The Dogon mask from the village of Ireli (Bandiagara Cliffs) depicting a hare is stylistically similar to this type of masks from Sangha. Compared to hare masks from other villages, it has exceptionally high, straight ears - most masks of this type have smaller, slightly bent and rounded ears. According to Grialue, hare masks disappeared in Irela in the 19th century. When French scientists conducted research there, hare masks still existed in some villages, e.g. Koundou Guinna, Yougo Na and Yanda. In the first village, the wooden face part of the mask resembles a walu, the two horns do not have at the base of the mask, but come out from the sides and originally behaved like small ears. The dancer, holding two long sticks in his hands, pretends to scratch the ground with his hooves, as oxen do. He nods and moos. This type of mask has disappeared. In Yougo, the face of the mask is rectangular and divided entirely by a nasal septum, and above it are two sharp corners, thick at the base, rising almost vertically. In the 1930s they were difficult to obtain. The Yanda hare mask resembles the previously described masks, but the horns rise diagonally and are longer, the ears are sharpened and emphasized [Griaule 1994: 452-453, ill. 101].

Bibliography:

Buchalik Lucjan, 2011, Dogon ya gali. Dawny świat Dogonów, Żory: Muzeum Miejskie.

Buchalik Lucjan, Katarzyna-Perec-Nodzyńska, Katarzyna Podyma, 2012, Zespół masek Dogonów, Mali, The collection of Dogon mask. Mali [in:] Lucjan Buchalik, Katarzyna Podyma (ed.) Maska afrykańska między sacrum a profanum. African Mask – Between the Sacred and the Profane, Żory – Katowice: Muzeum Miejskie w Żorach – Muzeum Historii Katowic, pp. 57-94.

Griaule Marcel, 1994, Masques Dogons, Paris: Institut d' Ethnonogie - Muséé de l'Homme.

Edited by Lucjan Buchalik

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The purchase is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport as part of the National Institute of Museums and Collections' own program "Expansion of museum collections".