Tribal Art

Sculpted subject frozen in a rare tilting movement protruding the buttocks, the head slightly oriented towards the side of the arm whose hand grasps the phallus. The body and face of the ancestor are incised with scarifications. The dry, furrowed surface is imprinted with various traces of libations. Deep erosions, cracks.
Sculpted for the most part on order placed by a family, the Dogon statues can also be the object of worship on the part of the whole community. However, their functions remain little known. Alongside Islam, Dogon religious rites are organized around four main cults: the Lébé, relating to fertility, under the spiritual authority of the Hogon, the Wagem, ancestor worship under the authority of the patriarch, the Binou invoking the spirit world and led by the priest of the Binou, and the society of masks concerning the funeral.