This very old antelope mask (called ka or karanda) was used during commemorative ceremonies of dama. It was accompanied by hundreds of other masked dancers, thus forming an abstract representation of the environment of the Dogon people. The antelope mask is admired by Dogon for its beauty and the strength of its performances. The origin of dama ceremony has close links with the worship of the ancestors (and death), as well as with the balance of the Universe. At the mythical time, masks were first acquired and used to counteract the negative effects of death. By reenacting the behavior of their mythic ancestors, as on this lock, the Dogon strive to restore order to their world after the disruption caused by death.

At the time of these ceremonies, the mask, then inert and secular, became the attribute of a dressed up dancer which gave it life and word. Because this is only through the movement, and through the dancer more particularly, that the mask finds its effectiveness.
19^th century or earlier.

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