book chapter
African art of the Dogon: the myths of the cliff dwellers
Brooklyn Museum in association with the Viking Press • New York • Published In 1973 • Pages: 60, [71]
By: Laude, Jean, Brooklyn Museum, Neugroschel, Joachim, Wunderman, Lester.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is an analysis of Dogon works of art which were included in the 1973 exhibition organized by The Brooklyn Museum. The author attempts to dispel the idea that such art can be understood apart from the history and culture of the artists or “producers.” Rather, the Dogon sculptures contained in this book, which are mainly wood carvings, serve as the chief vehicle for documenting Dogon cosmogony and Dogon concepts regarding their origins and genealogies. The same objects, which are related to important ritual ceremonies, detail both ordinary activities and reveal the society's mythology. These works also illustrate Dogon perceptions of their social organization and their interrelations among themselves and with outsiders. Thus Dogon sculptures pertain to both daily life and to mythical events simultaneously. The author attempts to distinguish authentic Dogon styles and themes from their predecessors, but he makes it clear that it is not always possible to establish the influence of intercultural contacts in all of the works photographed.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Decorative art
- Representative art
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Dogon
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2000
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Western Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- book chapter
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Art Historian
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- John Beierle ; Delores Walters ; 1987
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- no date
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1931-1972
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Bandiagara Circle, Mopti Region, Mali
- NotesAdditional notes
- Jean Laude [Translation by Joachim Neugroschel] Foreword by Lester Wunderman
- Issued in connection with an exhibition of L. Wunderman's private collection of Dogon art, organized by the Brooklyn Museum in 1973
- Because of poor quality, many graphics are not included
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 130-131)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 72012060
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Dogons (African people)