Cleveland Museum of Art

Mask (Omono or Tana Wurum Bogoro)

Date

early 1900s

Medium

Wood and paint

Culture

Africa, West Africa, Mali, Dogon-style blacksmith-carver

Department

African Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Dogon masks can be interpreted on two fundamentally different levels: “front speech” ( giri so ) reflects an early stage of knowledge and consists of a tale that is intended to arouse curiosity; and “speech of the world” ( aduno so ) refers to Dogon cosmogony, reserved for highly instructed men and women. Masked dances have recently been organized in Dogon regions for tourists and dignitaries. The character of omono is a rare one among the 80 or so that appear in Dogon masquerades. The long-armed figure at the top of this mask is omono , a white-bellied monkey.

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