What is the Dogon mask dance?
They dance emina, masks carved from wood and woven from hibiscus fiber, as part of a sequence of rites that are conducted for men long after they are buried. Mask dances are the highlight of these post-burial rites, including elaborate ceremonies held for men, known as dama, that mark the end of mourning.
What do Dogon masks stand for?
Dogon masks, such as this one called kanaga, are worn primarily at dama, a collective funerary rite for Dogon men. The ritual’s goal is to ensure the safe passage of the spirits of the deceased to the world of the ancestors.
How does a Dogon dancer show respect for someone who dies?
The Glory of Masks After this local performance the spectators move with masks and drummers to the houses where people have died in the previous years, because after all is danced and done, the masks are to honour the departed and provide their means to become ancestors.
What does Kanaga mask represent?
Symbolism. The Kanaga mask evokes the Creator God Amma. It presents a double cross shape, which reminds the creation of the world, danced during funeral ceremonies where it is used by members of the Awa society.
What is the Dogon religion?
Dogon religion is defined primarily through the worshiping of the ancestors and the spirits whom they encountered as they moved across the Western Sudan. The Awa society is responsible for carrying out the rituals, which allow the deceased to leave the world of the living and enter the world of the dead.
How old is the Dogon tribe?
Early history is informed by oral traditions, which claim that the Dogon originated from the west bank of the Niger River (10th to 13th centuries). They emigrated west to northern Burkina Faso, where local histories describe them as kibsi.
Where is Mali in Africa?
West Africa
Mali is a landlocked country in West Africa, located southwest of Algeria.
What are Bwa masks used for?
The masks are commissioned and owned by large, extended families, or clans. The masks are used on several occasions throughout the year, including initiations, burials, annual renewal rites associated with planting and harvesting, and ceremonies celebrating the consecration of a new mask.
What is the meaning of Kanaga?
Kanaga is Tamil Girl name which means – “Gold” According to the numerology value 8, Kanaga is Practical, status loving, power-seeking, materialistic, fair, self-sufficient, loves controlling other, short tempered, stressful and cunning.
What do the Dogon tribe eat?
millet
Their main crop is millet, planted at the start of the rainy season. Other crops include rice, beans, peas, peanuts, and sesame.
What Dogon means?
Definition of Dogon 1 : a member of a people of Mali noted for their sculpture. 2 : the language of the Dogon.
What is the significance of Dogon mask dance?
Dogon Mask Dance. They are among the most highly respected tribal art in the world, having influenced Western 20th-century artists such as Picasso, Braque and the Cubist movement. The masks serve to connect the Dogon people to the world of heaven where the afterworld exists, and Earth, which provides food, shelter and life.
What is a Dogon dancer?
Through the medium of masks, Dogon dancers carve out an opening into ancestral, spiritual worlds, urging souls onward to the afterlife.
What is the “Dama” mask dance?
One of the most popular dance rituals is the “dama”. This dance ritual is performed to honour and facilitate the passing of a deceased person according to customs. Without the “dama” mask dance, the Dogon believe the deceased cannot transition to the afterlife in peace. Check out these unique and beautiful Dogon masks.
What did the Ogol dancers look like?
[A] line of one hundred and fifty masked Ogol dancers emerged out of a trembling mirage of sandstone, advancing along the dusty paths that crossed the fields. Almost all of them, with scarlet fibers that opened on shiny black or straw-yellow fibers, wore on their chest fake black breasts or strips of cowrie shells, glittering with whiteness.