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[People of Mali][Internet Lesson][Reasons for Art][History of Mali][Images of African Art][Test Your Knowledge][What is Art?][Art of Africa][Artists of Africa][Art of Mali]
[Senufo Ancestral Figures]
A discussion of ancestral figures
would not be complete with the presentation of the primordial couple of the
Dogon. The most noted couple is in the collection of the Barnes Foundation,
Merion, Pennsylvania (Sieber & Walker 1987, p. 28). In this pair, the
man has one arm around the woman’s shoulder meaning the couple is eternal.
They explain and teach the system of the world and the social and political
structures of the Dogon. As Pascal Imperato has written, "They were the
first human couple which later birth to all the ancestors"-- giving
birth to four sets of twins, the original eight ancestors of the Dogon (in
Sieber & Walker, p.28). Amma (or Ama) created them in human form, the
God of Creation. The male is often shown as the protector, a hunter-warrior
with a quiver on his back; the female as genetrix with a child on her back
(ibid.).
Many examples of ancestral figures have also been
found with the "first" ancestor seated on a stool supported by ancestor figures.
TELLEM Figures
Probably the most mysterious figures today are
those of the Tellem. While the Dogon have never considered these ancestor figures, they do
regard them as powerful things which the priest use with their own objects to make rain
magic (Wassing 1968, p 185). The Dogon, who fled to the remote cliffs of eastern Mali in
the 14th and 15th century to escape conversion by invading Fulani
Muslim, have become guardians of the Tellem culture. In the towering conical clay
constructions on the cliff face have been found (along with human skeletons) human
figures, neck-rests, fragments of textiles and finely knotted plait-work (natural fiber
weavings), clay vessels, bronze and iron amulets, spear and arrowheads. The woodcarvings
only came to light after the Second World War. They represent an archaic style clearly
distinguishable from those of the Dogon and are covered with a thick encrustation (Wassing
pp. 45, 185). Some of the angular figures (cubic in style) hold their arms upward -- one
hand open invoking rain, the other closed as if to stop it. These figures are kept in the
granaries and the Dogon place sacrificial vessels before them (Leuzinger 1960, p 82).
Other figures exist which combine both Tellem and Dogon characteristics, which, along with
the melding style of architecture on the lower cliffs, supports the Dogon assertion that
they once lived together with the Tellem (Wassing p. 185).
Find out about the Dogon
Equestrian Figure.
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