Tribal Art

Dogon Statue (N° 24396)

African art Dogon.
Female figure with erect straight arms, Tellem style. Velvety dry surface, speckled patina. Desication cracks.
The African tribal statues of the Dogon can also be worshiped by the whole community when they commemorate, for example, the founding of the village. These statues, sometimes embodying the nyama of the deceased, are placed on altars of ancestors and take part in various rituals, including those of the sowing and harvesting periods. The figures with raised arms symbolized a prayer to Amma for the much-needed rain, but it could also be a gesture of contrition following the violation of a law that caused a drought. The south of the plateau overlooking the Bandiagara cliff has been occupied since the 10th century by the Tellem and the Niongom. They were then displaced by the Dogon in the 15th century, who fled the Mandé. The Tellem became the ancestors of the Kurumba of Burkina Faso.