Monkey mask

Dogon masks are part of a complex ritual cycle and play an important role in initiation and funeral ceremonies. Since the 1930s, they have also been used in a variety of entertainment performances and today they continue to perform for tourists.

While more than 70 different Dogon masks have been identified, they can be grouped into five categories according to medium, whether fiber or wood; subject, whether animal, human or abstract; and character, whether predatory or nonpredatory. This Dogon mask is non-threatening. Despite its black color, it is carved in a form usually identified as a white monkey. Neither the monkey nor the blank face have teeth and are considered non-aggressive.

Traditionally Dogon masks are controlled by the Awa society, a group of predominantly male initiates. The society's age-grouped membership functions outside the standard Dogon organizing factors of lineage and village. It conducts the public rites that insure the transition of the dead into the spirit world. A large number of masks are included both for the funerary rites and for the dama, the celebration at the end of mourning. The Awa leaders also direct the sigui, a celebration held only every 60 years to mark the change in generations.

Flat rectangular wood face mask with monkey figure superstructure. Mask has flat face with pierced square eyes. Monkey figure has thin curved torso with long arms that attach to forehead of face mask, flattened head with slash mouth, rectangular eyes and ears on the side of its head. Mask has overall dark surface.

Artful Animals, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., July 1, 2009-July 25, 2010

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