GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Dogon farmers in the rocky plateau and plains of Bandiagara in Mali established their villages under vertical cliff faces to protect themselves from invasion. The Gur-speaking Dogon peoples migrated to this area in the 15th century to escape the Mande, and they developed an architectural style to fit their defensive geography. The cult of ancestors is important to the Dogon, who craft various sculptures and instruments for these ceremonies and other initiation rites. Figural sculptures are carved in a stylized manner as are the wide variety of masks also made by the Dogon peoples, whose present population is nearly two hundred and fifty thousand.
Excerpt from
Roslyn A. Walker, The Arts of Africa at the Dallas Museum of Art (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2009), 301.
NOTES
ASSOCIATED CONTENT CHUNKS (list applicable note links)
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VIDEO ASSETS
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WEB RESOURCES
- University of Iowa Museum of Art, Art & Life in Africa~Learn more about the Dogon peoples.
- University of Iowa Museum of Art, Art & Life in Africa~Read an essay about Dogon visual culture.
- Smart History~Read an overview of the peoples and cultures in Africa.
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES (digitized/non-digitized)
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
apply to objects where culture equals dogon peoples
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General Description
Dogon farmers in the rocky plateau and plains of Bandiagara in Mali established their villages under vertical cliff faces to protect themselves from invasion. The Gur-speaking Dogon peoples migrated to this area in the 15th century to escape the Mande, and they developed an architectural style to fit their defensive geography. The cult of ancestors is important to the Dogon, who craft various sculptures and instruments for these ceremonies and other initiation rites. Figural sculptures are carved in a stylized manner as are the wide variety of masks also made by the Dogon peoples, whose present population is nearly two hundred and fifty thousand.
Excerpt from
Roslyn A. Walker, The Arts of Africa at the Dallas Museum of Art (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2009), 301.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
(digitized/non-digitized)
Web Resources
- University of Iowa Museum of Art, Art & Life in Africa~Learn more about the Dogon peoples.
- University of Iowa Museum of Art, Art & Life in Africa~Read an essay about Dogon visual culture.
- Smart History~Read an overview of the peoples and cultures in Africa.
Notes
rules
Apply To
Objects
culture
Equals
dogon peoples
source file
peoples_and_societies-0026.xml.nores