Omono Monkey Mask

The monkey mask is one of the numerous masks of animals participating in the Lady's ceremony, although it is true according to Griaule, that there is a great difference between a great Lady and a small Lady. The first is attended by numerous large masks and masks na’walu Coming from different villages while the little Lady attends almost exclusively the small masks of the village. The Lady is a symbolic mourning ceremony to make it easier for the soul of the deceased to meet with the ancestors. It's celebrated at night, just outside the village. The party begins at sunset, with the start of the musicians. Prayers are sung to favor the passage beyond the dead.

The monkey is all that is told of what must be a DogonEven though he's clever, he's gluttonous and antisocial. However there are three categories of mono masks, which are presented in multiple ways difficult to distinguish for an uninitiated because neither the color of the wood nor the shape are clear indications: The black monkey mask or Dege, of the white monkey or Omono and the red monkey or Ko. They often carry a figure on top, usually a monkey, but they can also carry a man, no doubt a nomo, antithesis of the monkey.

This monkey mask represents an imaginary animal that evokes at the same time the monkey and the calao with a rather triangular, domed skull divided into two parts by a median line that simulates the nose. The eyes also triangular. On the skull sits a character, certainly a nomo or a remarkable, holding the beard with both hands. The image of the monkey for the Dogon is always used to fight the phenomena of sorcery and the calao is a symbol of wisdom and peace. The old man holding his beard is the image of the dogon thinker. much repeated in his iconography Patina of time.