MUSEUM NEWS UPPER LEFT: Figure, dege. Dogon, Bandiagara Escarpment, Mali. 17th–early 20th century. Wood, sacrificial encrustation. H: 56.5 cm. The Menil Collection, Houston, inv. X 873. Photo: Paul Hester. LOWER LEFT: Figure, dege. Dogon, Bandiagara Escarpment, Mali. Mid 20th century or earlier. Wood, sacrificial materials. H: 29.8 cm. The Menil Collection, Houston, inv. X.3007. Photo: Paul Hester NEAR LEFT: Staff or lance. Dogon, possibly Dianvéli, Bandiagara Escarpment, Mali. Late 19th–mid 20th century. Iron. H: 88.9 cm. The Menil Collection, Houston, inv. X 2030. Photo: Paul Hester Hornbill mask (emina, dyodyomini) with hook (gobo). Dogon, possibly Banani, Bandiagara Escarpment, Mali. Late 19th–early 20th century. Wood, pigment, iron. L: 92.7 cm. The Menil Collection, Houston, inv. X 2029. Photo: Paul Hester. ReCollecting Dogon HOUSTON—During the twentieth century, the society and visual culture of people living along the steep, rocky Bandiagara Escarpment in present-day Mali captured the imagination of Europeans and Americans. The Dogon, as they have come to be known through a large corpus of colonial literature, ethnographic fi eldwork, exhibitions, fi lms, and tour guides, occupy a prominent position in the West’s history of the African continent. They are internationally celebrated for their surreal masks, deftly carved fi gural sculptures, iconic architecture, and rich cosmology. ReCollecting Dogon, at The Menil Collection from February 3–July 9, 2017, showcases more than twenty-fi ve examples of artistry from the Bandiagara region acquired by John and Dominique de Menil during the mid twentieth century, as well as antique and contemporary objects from a variety of other sources. The sculptures, masks, necklaces, and other works not only suggest the signifi cance of art to daily life among Dogon peoples, they evoke formidable legacies of colonialism and the limitations of representing Dogon peoples through objects collected by and for foreigners. Curated by Paul R. Davis, ReCollecting Dogon strives to destabilize the authority of ethnographic display by including 1930s ethnographic audio recordings simulated by Marcel Griaule, photographs of artworks taken by Walker Evans (1935) and Mario Carrieri (1976), and other archival works that recall the long history of encounters and transactions shaping the current understanding of Dogon peoples. Recently commissioned masks, videos by Sérou Dolo of recent masking events, and contemporary works by artists Amahigueré Dolo and Alaye Kene Atô present a vibrant, living visual culture and serve as counterpoints to historical representations of the Dogon peoples.
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