Awa Society

This article is about a Dogon religious society. For other uses, see Awa (disambiguation).
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A man wearing a Sirige mask jumps during a ceremony, 1974. The Sirige mask is a tall mask that is used in funerals for only the men who were alive during the holding of the Sigui ceremony.[1]

Awa (in Dogon),[2] also known as the Awa Society,[3][2] the Society of Masks,[4][5] is an African mask and initiatory society of the Dogon people of Mali which is made up of circumcised men, and whose role is both ritual and political within Dogon society.[6] The Awa Society takes an important role in Dogon religious affairs, and regularly preside over funereally rites and the dama ceremony—a ritual ceremony that marks the end of bereavement in Dogon country ( fr ).[7] This Society is one of the important aspect of Dogon religious life—which is primarily based on the worship of the single omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent Creator God Amma[8][9] and the veneration of the ancestors.[9] Although it is only one aspect of Dogon's religious sects, it is perhaps more well known than the others partly due to Dogon mask–dance culture which attracts huge tourism, and their masks highly sought after, and in fact, one of the first to be sought after by art collectors in the west.[10][11]

  1. ^ Davis, Shawn R. Dogon Funerals;; in African Art; Summer 2002, Vol. 35 Issue 2. p. 68
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Werness was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Imperato was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Appiah, Anthony; Gates, Henry Louis, Encyclopedia of Africa, Volume 1, Oxford University Press (2010), p. 380 ISBN 9780195337709, (retrieved March 20, 2020) [1]
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Griaule and Dieterlen - the pale fox was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Clarke, Christa; Arkenberg, Rebecca; (editor: Arkenberg, Rebecca), The Art of Africa: A Resource for Educators, Volume 1. Metropolitan Museum of Art (2006), p. 51, ISBN 9781588391902 (retrieved March 20, 2020) [2]
  7. ^ Ezra, Kate, Art of the Dogon: Selections from the Lester Wunderman Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art (1988), pp. 23–25, ISBN 9780810918740 (retrieved March 3, 2020) [3]
  8. ^ Hackett, Rosalind, Art and Religion in Africa, A&C Black 1(998), pp. 35-36, ISBN 9780826436559 (retrieved March 3, 2020) [4]
  9. ^ a b Mission Lebaudy-Griaule [compte-rendu] (Lebaudy-Griaule Mission (report)) [in] Persée. "Mélanges et nouvelles africanistes, Journal des Africanistes (1939) tome 9, fascicule 2. pp. 217-221". Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  10. ^ Bruijn, Mirjam de; & Dijk, Rijk van; The Social Life of Connectivity in Africa, Palgrave Macmillan (2012), pp. 250, 264, ISBN 9781137278012 (retrieved March 3, 2020) [5]
  11. ^ Shoup, John A. III, Ethnic Groups of Africa and the Middle East: An Encyclopedia: An Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO (2011), p. 87, ISBN 9781598843637 (retrieved March 20, 2020) [6]