Dogon

Inhabiting the barren cliffsides of the Bandiagara Escarpment, near the great bend of the Niger River, the 250,000 Dogon people lead lives of physical austerity and spiritual wealth. Their beliefs are expressed through art forms laden with symbolism. According to Dogon oral tradition, the tribe settled in this area between the 14th and the 15th centuries, after escaping from the Mande kingdom. Legend has it that a snake led them to the cliff at the southern end of the plateau where they overwhelmed and usurped the local Tellem and Niongom populations.

Dogon art is primarily wood sculpture, although some pieces are made out of stone or forged from metal. Dogon art serves both an every day and ritualistic function. The carvers who create this art continue the tradition in making the pieces as the mentors who taught them did. The purpose of Dogon art is to preserve the peoples' tradition and not for an individual claim to a piece. Both carvers and especially blacksmiths are important figures in their culture and many myths surround their work and are retold by the Dogon. Knowledge is passed from the elders to those whose job is going to be making these ritualistic and everyday pieces. Pieces used in rituals are created by the blacksmiths who employ similar techniques when working with metal as when working with wood.

Dogon art revolves around religious values, ideals, 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. The importance of secrecy is due to the symbolic meaning behind the pieces and the process by which they are made.

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 vessels on their heads, donkeys bearing cups, musicians, dogs, quadruped-shaped troughs or benches, figures bending from the waist, mirror-images, aproned 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 cliffs of Bandiagara. Influence from Tellem art is evident in Dogon art because of its rectilinear designs.

Because of the arid climate, some Dogon wooden sculpture has become apparent. The symmetry characteristic of Dogon figure sculpture represents the concept of social order and harmony.