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Source Description
Dogon masks can be interpreted on two fundamentally different levels: “front speech” (<em>giri so</em>) reflects an early stage of knowledge and consists of a tale that is intended to arouse curiosity; and “speech of the world” (<em>aduno so</em>) 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 <em>omono</em> is a rare one among the 80 or so that appear in Dogon masquerades.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
148152
label
Mask (Omono or Tana Wurum Bogoro)
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
148152
contentType
object
title
Mask (Omono or Tana Wurum Bogoro)
description
Dogon masks can be interpreted on two fundamentally different levels: “front speech” (<em>giri so</em>) reflects an early stage of knowledge and consists of a tale that is intended to arouse curiosity; and “speech of the world” (<em>aduno so</em>) 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 <em>omono</em> is a rare one among the 80 or so that appear in Dogon masquerades.
date
early 1900s
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Mask
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 91.5 cm (36 in.)
cul
Africa, West Africa, Mali, Dogon-style blacksmith-carver
accession
1975.151
Source extras
tec
Wood and paint
tombstone
Mask (Omono or Tana Wurum Bogoro), early 1900s. Africa, West Africa, Mali, Dogon-style blacksmith-carver. Wood and paint; overall: 91.5 cm (36 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Katherine C. White, 1975.151
collection
African Art
formerAccessionNumbers
929.68
didYouKnow
The long-armed figure at the top of this mask is <em>omono</em>, a white-bellied monkey.
citations
citation
Fagg, William, and Cleveland Museum of Art. 1968. <em>African Tribal Images; the Katherine White Reswick Collection, no. 2</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art.
citation
Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1975.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 63, no. 2 (February 1976): 31–71.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 64; Mentioned: p. 66, no. 35
creditline
Gift of Katherine C. White
updatedAt
2026-05-29 07:36:56.497000
sourceId
148152
dept
African Art
coll
African Art
med
Wood and paint
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
2142532f8f9b5136