Dominant depuis le XVème siècle les falaises de Bandiagra
au Mali, les Dogon sont les héritiers d'une tradition artistique ethnique exceptionnelle : Chaque œuvre d'art témoignant à la fois de l'intimité des familles – les œuvres ne sont pas destinées à être vues mais au contraire conservées dans la pénombre des maisons, telles qu'au sanctuaire- et de la représentation d'une cosmogonie unique qui structure la vie quotidienne comme le rythme et les rituels des cérémonies sociétales ou initiatiques.
Cosmogonie et organisation sociale
Dogon ou Hebbesignifie littéralement " païen "; soit celui qui refuse de s'intégrer à l'Islam.
les Dogon vénèrent le dieu Amma. Amma selon leur cosmogonie avait l'aspect d'un oeuf.
La statuaire Dogon présente toujours des têtes ovoïdes signifiant de ce Dieu du ciel.
Amma est associé à huit ancêtres, représentant la hiérarchie d'une société construite sur un modèle patriarcal.
Ces huit ancêtres répondent à un métier et à des couleurs spécifiques :
Forgeron et potier – rouge et bleu
Agriculteur – blanc et vert
Sculpteur - orange
Danseur – blanc
Commerçant – noir
Le maître de la parole/tissage – vert.
Masques et Statuaire Dogon
Associés au culte des ancêtres, les masques Dogon fabriqués à la mémoire des défunts - Masque Sirige, masque Kanaga, s'accompagnent souvent de masques zoomorphes dont la fonction est de protéger les vivants en récupérant la force vitale des êtres ou des animaux disparus. A la différence des statues, ces masques sont sculptés par des non spécialistes.
La sculpture des statues appartient au forgeron qui exécute en public des œuvres dont la qualité dépend de la richesse de celui qui en passe la commande.
** Maternité Dogon, Mali, bois, patine ancienne
Armand Auxietre, Directeur de la Galerie " l'oeil et la main "a choisi de présenter pour cette exposition une maternité Dogon.
Cette maternité, comme le veut la tradition, représente une femme assise sur un tabouret finement orné de signes symboliques des ancêtres. Pourtant la forme de la figure répond aux critères du cubisme tels que le définissaient Fernand Léger, Blaise Cendras en littérature ou le Corbusier en architecture : Une poétique de la modernité, dans le parti pris des choses, pour un monde meilleur.
Traité avec austérité, visant à incarner l'essentialité d'un monde "pur", le visage lisse présente des yeux en losange, un nez rectiligne et une bouche fendue. L'enfant s'agrippe au sein de sa mère. Vecteur héréditaire de la première " connaissance ", du premier degré du passage initiatique qui le conduira de l'âge adulte à la mort. Le corps rectiligne, aux volumes épurés, membres pointus, épaules carrés, coiffure stylisée confèrent à l'œuvre, par sa monumentalité une dimension noble et mystique de la connaissance du monde et de l'humanité.
La patine ancienne, vraisemblablement de sang, de bière de mil, indique qu'elle a fait l'objet d'offrandes ou de sacrifices nombreux et atteste donc de sa valeur patrimoniale d'exception.
Vernissage le Mardi 7 décembre 2010, à partir de 18H30
Art Gallery l’œil et la main 41 rue de Verneuil, 75007 Paris
L’exposition DOGON présente l’histoire de l’art et de la culture dogon, depuis le 10ème siècle jusqu’à nos jours, à travers plus de 330 oeuvres exceptionnelles issues de collections du monde entier et rassemblées pour la première fois en France.
Galerie jardin
billet Expositions temporaires et billet jumelé
DU MARDI 5 AVRIL AU 24 JUILLET 2011
COMMISSARIAT : HÉLÈNE LELOUP, SPÉCIALISTE DE L'ART DOGON
l'exposition
L’art des Dogon du Mali est l’un des plus connus parmi les oeuvres issues des cultures d’Afrique.
Outre les chefs-d’oeuvre qui ont fait la renommée de l’art dogon, l’exposition présente des pièces cultuelles, ou même d’usage quotidien, qui évoquent les préoccupations métaphysiques et esthétiques des populations les ayant produites. Les typologies de ces objets, aux techniques virtuoses et variées, ont été rarement dévoilées en regard des grandes pièces de la statuaire.
Plus de dix siècles d’histoire des peuplements, des influences artistiques et culturelles sont ainsi parcourus à travers un rassemblement unique de chefs-d’oeuvre incontournables et de pièces du quotidien inédites qui témoignent du peuplement progressif du pays dogon et de la richesse de sa diversité stylistique.
L’exposition créée au musée du quai Branly entend restituer toute la force de l’art de la sculpture telle que l’ont conçue les Dogon, qu’il s’agisse du bois ou du métal, de pièces imposantes ou de puissants objets de petite dimension. Hélène Leloup
Sur les 2000 m2 de la Galerie Jardin, l’exposition DOGON se compose de trois grandes parties thématiques qui illustrent l’histoire de l’art et de la culture du peuple dogon au travers de productions artistiques variées.
INTRODUCTION : HISTOIRE ET ORIGINES DES MIGRATIONS DES DOGON
Les récentes recherches historiques sur l’Afrique de l’Ouest ont démontré que les populations établies dans les diverses zones de la région n’étaient pas isolées. Les vagues de migrations, les pistes caravanières, les échanges commerciaux sur de longues distances ainsi que les relations avec les autres peuples résidant dans la région de Bandiagara ont permis de former un réseau développé de contacts, bien avant l’arrivée des Européens. La population dogon s’est donc enrichie de ces acquis que lui ont apportés les civilisations alentours.
PREMIÈRE PARTIE : L’HARMONIE AU MONDE
Au-delà de l’unité apparente d’une identité commune forgée au fil des siècles, les statues présentées dans cette partie dévoilent la remarquable créativité du peuple dogon et la grande diversité de ses productions artistiques. Elle explore la complexité sous-jacente au pays dogon, perçu à tort comme un continuum culturel.
Réparties selon différents styles correspondants à des sous-groupes ethniques ou à des aires géographiques spécifiques, 133 sculptures exceptionnelles témoignent de cette richesse : Djennenke, Niongom, Tombo, Tellem, Mande, N’Duleri, Tintam, Sculptures de la falaise, Bambou Toro, Kambari, Komakan.
A leur arrivée sur le plateau de Bandiagara, les Dogon se retrouvent face à des peuples occupant déjà la région et possédant une culture matérielle élaborée.
Sculptures et textiles des Tellem retrouvés dans les sanctuaires coexistent sur la falaise avec les oeuvres Niongom et Dogon mandé, tandis qu’au nord les sculptures Djennenké et, au centre du plateau, les pièces Tombo témoignent des vagues migratoires différentes.
Masque zoomorphe
DEUXIÈME PARTIE : L’IMAGINAIRE ANTHROPOLOGIQUE
L’intérêt qui se développe en Occident pour l’art dogon, de la conquête de Bandiagara en 1893 jusqu’à aujourd’hui, est d’abord une ambition scientifique, qui trouve sa pleine expression dans la mission Dakar-Djibouti. Cette partie explorer l’approche institutionnelle des premières collectes, point de départ de la diffusion de la connaissance de l’art dogon en Occident.
L’évocation de deux figures de l’imaginaire anthropologique, Louis Desplagnes et Marcel Griaule, permet de comprendre comment l’art dogon s’impose à la curiosité et au goût européen.
* Peintures rupestres
C’est en 1907 que Louis Desplagnes, dans son livre Le plateau central nigérien,amorce les premières études des arts et cultures du pays dogon, suite à une expédition dans la région de Bandiagara. Il met au jour un art rupestre remarquable par la vivacité et le dynamisme de son expression, et ses collectes alimentent le musée d’ethnographie du Trocadéro.
Une dizaine de peintures rupestres sont présentées dans cette sous-section.
* Masques
Marcel Griaule propose dans Masques dogons (1938) une typologie d’une grande précision ethnographique.
Objet de recherche privilégié, le masque dogon participe à la construction de cette discipline ethnologique. 35 masques dogons exposés évoquent la classification définie dans cet ouvrage.
Un programme multimédia invite le visiteur à se plonger dans l’histoire de la découverte de l’art dogon, de sa diffusion et de la naissance des grandes collections en Occident.
TROISIÈME PARTIE : L’ENCHANTEMENT DE LA COLLECTION
Parallèlement à la quête scientifique et au développement des missions d’enquêtes sur le terrain, la fascination pour les objets et sculptures dogon s’intensifie. Les collectionneurs s’entourent non seulement de pièces de statutaires dogon mais aussi d’objets singuliers.
Les 140 objets exposés dans cette dernière section témoignent de l’inclination des sculpteurs dogons à évoquer le mythe d’origine dans les objets du quotidien tels que bijoux, objets en bronze et en fer, poulies, portes, serrures, sièges, appuie-têtes, sculptures d’animaux, autels, arches, coupes et plats. Ces objets déclinent les mêmes canons stylistiques que les sculptures présentées dans la première partie.
À la fin du parcours, une allée bordée de 10 piliers de Toguna, la « case à palabres » - construction ouverte érigée au centre des villages dogon - mène à la grande statue Djennenké du musée du quai Branly, chef d’oeuvre incontournable de l’art dogon.
To the XIV E century and XV E century, Dogons drove out Tellem to occupy their territory. Dogons live on escarpée cliff of Bandiagara in Mali. They live agriculture and cultivate the millet, it but and groundnut.
The artistic centers let us dogons are in Bandiagara, Sangha and Ireli. The oldest statues let us dogons are recognizable with their lengthened forms. They represent a character who tightens his arms towards the sky. We cannot interpret with exactitude the significance of this gesture but it could be that of a prayer (so that the gods grant the rain, for example). Stylistiquement, these statues let us dogons resemble those their predecessors Tellem. They are sometimes named of “style tellem”. Blood of the sacrifices, hulled grain of millet and beer are widespread on the statues, which gives to the patina a croûteux aspect. The statues comprise at the same time female elements and masculines because, for Dogons, separation between the two sexes is not absolute. The hermaphrodism shows the vital power of these statues.
The creative god dogon is Amma. There are eight paramount ancestors, Nommo. They have a sinuous body and of which the lower part is serpentiform. The sculptures represent one of the nommo in general.
Apart from these sculptures, the most typical achievements of the dogon are the masks of dance. One of their ritual, the sigui, takes place every sixty years. It is intended for the atonement of fished and present of the anthropomorphic masks or zoomorphes (antelope, hare, buffalo, monkey, bird, hyena, lion) very important cuts some (up to ten meters for the mask - snake). The mask snake is the symbol of the dead ancestor. It is carried out on this occasion. All the community takes part in this ceremony. Initiate must keep it and are regarded as persons in charge of the heart of the ancestor.
We are informed also of shutters or of doors dogon, they closed the attics and are very interesting because they represent the ancestors. The sculptures are very stylized.
Dogons Dogons are people of Mali, in West Africa. Their population is estimated at 700.000 people. They occupy the area which goes from cliff of Bandiagara to the south-west of the loop of Niger. Some Dogons are installed in the north of Burkina Faso, others settled in Ivory Coast.
Dogons are above all the farmers (primarily millet) and blacksmiths. They are famous for their cosmogony and their sculptures. The spoken language by Dogons is the dogon which gathers several dialects. There exists also a secret language, the sigi so, language reserved for the company of the masks. Dogons are dependent with the ethnos group of Bozos by the relationship on joke. Dogons and Bozos make fun reciprocally but in parallel owe assistance.
The cliff of Bandiagara is a long sandstone chain stretching south in the North-East on a distance of 200 km and prolonged by the solid mass of Gandamia, itself finished by the Mount Hombori, more the high summit of Mali (with 1155 meters). It is one of the most imposing sites of West Africa, which it is by its archaeological characteristics, ethnological or geological. Part of cliffs are in the adjoining country that is Burkina Faso.
In the wall of a rock corridor named toloy and located not far from Sangha, a cave delivered the first traces of human occupation: made attics of superimposed clay rolls, pottery and remainders of plants, going back to the III E and II E centuries before our era. This cultural phase is named toloy. Thirteen centuries later, these attics were re-used by Tellem.
In the cliffsides lived as troglodytes Tellem, an ethnos group of hunters-gatherers which left cliff following the arrival of Dogons and the environmental modifications made by their lifestyle of farmers. Tens of villages are located along cliff like Sangha or Kani Bonzon where arrived Dogons at the XIV E century. Dogons preserved Tellem constructions, and developed their villages below the sites tellems.
The Dogon are a group of people living in the central plateau region of Mali, south of the Niger bend near the city of Bandiagara in the Mopti region. They number just under 800,000 The Dogon are best known for their mythology, their mask dances, wooden sculpture and their architecture. The past century has seen significant changes in the social organization, material culture and beliefs of the Dogon, partly because Dogon country is one of Mali's major tourist attractions.Geography and history
The Bandiagara CliffsThe principal Dogon area is bisected by the Bandiagara Escarpment, a sandstone cliff of up to 500m (1,640 ft) high, stretching for about 150km (almost 100 miles). To the southeast of the cliff, the sandy Séno-Gondo Plains are found, and northwest of the cliff are the Bandiagara Highlands. The current population is at least 450,000. Historically, Dogon villages have frequently fallen victim to Islamic slave raiders Neighboring Islamic tribal groups acted as slave merchants, as the growth of cities increased the demand for slaves across the region of West Africa. The historical pattern has included murder of indignenous males by Islamic jihadists and enslavement of women and children.[1] As early as the 12th century AD the Dogon people fled west to avoid conversion to Islam and enslavement.
At the end of the eighteenth century, the jihads that were triggered by the resurgence of Islam caused slaves to be sought for warfare. Dogon insecurity in the face of these historical pressures caused them to locate their villages in defensible positions along the walls of the escarpment. The other factor influencing their choice of settlement location is water. The Niger River is nearby and in the sandstone rock, a rivulet runs at the foot of the cliff at the lowest point of the area during the wet season.
Dogon art
Dogon wood sculpture, probably an ancestor figure, 17th-18th centuryDogon art is primarily sculpture. Dogon art revolves around religious values, ideals, and freedoms (Laude, 19). Dogon sculptures are not made to be seen publicly, and are commonly hidden from the public eye within the houses of families, sanctuaries, or kept with the Hogon (Laude, 20). The importance of secrecy is due to the symbolic meaning behind the pieces and the process by which they are made.
Themes found throughout Dogon sculpture consist of figures with raised arms, superimposed bearded figures, horsemen, stools with caryatids, women with children, figures covering their faces, women grinding pearl millet, women bearing vessels on their heads, donkeys bearing cups, musicians, dogs, quadruped-shaped troughs or benches, figures bending from the waist, mirror-images, aproned figures, and standing figures (Laude, 46-52). Signs of other contacts and origins are evident in Dogon art. The Dogon people were not the first inhabitants of the cliffs of Bandiagara. Influence from Tellem art is evident in Dogon art because of its rectilinear designs (Laude, 24).
Dogon art
Dogon wood sculpture, probably an ancestor figure, 17th-18th centuryDogon art is primarily sculpture. Dogon art revolves around religious values, ideals, and freedoms (Laude, 19). Dogon sculptures are not made to be seen publicly, and are commonly hidden from the public eye within the houses of families, sanctuaries, or kept with the Hogon (Laude, 20). The importance of secrecy is due to the symbolic meaning behind the pieces and the process by which they are made.
Themes found throughout Dogon sculpture consist of figures with raised arms, superimposed bearded figures, horsemen, stools with caryatids, women with children, figures covering their faces, women grinding pearl millet, women bearing vessels on their heads, donkeys bearing cups, musicians, dogs, quadruped-shaped troughs or benches, figures bending from the waist, mirror-images, aproned figures, and standing figures (Laude, 46-52). Signs of other contacts and origins are evident in Dogon art. The Dogon people were not the first inhabitants of the cliffs of Bandiagara. Influence from Tellem art is evident in Dogon art because of its rectilinear designs (Laude, 24).
Most men, however, have only one wife; and it is rare for a man to have more than two wives. Formally, wives only join their husband's residence unit after the birth of their first child. Women may leave their husbands early in their marriage, before the birth of their first child. After having children, divorce is a rare and serious matter, and it requires the participation of the whole village. An enlarged family can count up to hundred persons and is called guinna.
The Dogon are strongly oriented toward harmony, and this harmony is reflected in many of their rituals. For instance, in one of their most important rituals, the women praise the men, the men thank the women, the young express appreciation for the old, and the old recognize the contributions of the young. Another example is the custom of elaborate greetings whenever one Dogon meets another. This custom is repeated over and over, throughout a Dogon village, all day. During a greeting ritual, the person who has entered the contact answers a series of questions about his or her whole family, from the person who was already there. Invariably, the answer is sewa, which means that everything is fine. Then the Dogon who has entered the contact repeats the ritual, asking the resident how his or her whole family is. Because of the word sewa is so commonly repeated throughout a Dogon village, neighboring peoples have dubbed the Dogon the sewa people.
The Hogon is the spiritual leader of the village. He is elected between the oldest men of the enlarged families of the village. After his election he has to follow a six-month initiation period, during which he is not allowed to shave or wash. He wears white cloths and nobody is allowed to touch him. A young virgin that has not yet had her period takes care of him, cleans the house and prepares his meals. She returns to her home during the night. After his initiation, he will wear a red bonnet. He has an armband with a sacred pearl that symbolises his function. The virgin is replaced by one of his wives, but she also returns to her home at night. The Hogon has to live alone in his house. During the night, the sacred snake Lébé comes to clean him and to transfer wisdom.
The Dogon maintain an agricultural mode of subsistence, and cultivate pearl millet, sorghum and rice, as well as onions, tobacco, peanuts, and some other vegetables. Marcel Griaule stimulated the construction of a dam near Sangha and incited the Dogon to cultivate onions. The economy of the Sangha region doubled since then and onions are sold as far as on the market of Bamako or even in Ivory Coast. They also raise sheep, goats and chickens. Grain is stored in granaries. Boys are circumcised in age groups of three years, counting for example all boys between 9 and 12 years old. This marks the end of their youth, and they are now initiated. The blacksmith performs the circumcision. Afterwards, they stay for a few days in a hut separated from the rest of the village people, until the wound has healed. The circumcision is a reason for celebration and the initiated boys go around and receive presents. They make music on a special instrument that is made of a rod of wood and calabashes that makes the sound of a rattle. The village of Songho has a circumcision cave ornamented with red and white rock paintings of animals and plants. Nearby is a cave where music instruments are stored. The newly circumcized men must walk around naked for a moon after the procedure so that their achievement in age can be admired by the citizens of the tribe. This practice has been passed down for generations and is always followed, even during winter.
They are one of several African ethnic groups which practice excision of the female genitalia; see female genital cutting. According to Sékou Ogobara Dolo, at least in the Sangha region, the milder form is practiced. This means that only the clitoral hood is removed, which is similar to male circumcision. Girls are circumsized around the age of 7 or 8 years, sometimes younger. Circumcision for both male and female is seen as necessary for the individual to gain gender. Before circumcision they are seen as 'neuter'.
Funeral Masquerade Due to the expense, their traditional funeral rituals or “damas” are becoming very rare. They may be performed years after the death. Damas that are still performed today are not usually performed for their original intent, but instead are done as a source of entertainment for tourists interested in the Dogon way of life. The Dogon use this entertainment to gain profit by charging the tourists money for what masks they want to see and the ritual itself (Davis, 68). The traditional dama consists of a masquerade that essentially leads the souls of the departed to their final resting places through a series of ritual dances and rites. Dogon damas include the use of many masks and statuettes. Each Dogon village may differ in the designs of the masks used in the dama ritual. Every village may have their own way of performing the dama rituals. The dama consists of an event, known as the Halic, immediately after the death of a person and lasts for one day (Davis, 68). According to Shawn R. Davis, this particular ritual incorporates the elements of the yingim and the danyim. During the yincomoli ceremony, a gourd is smashed over the deceased’s wooden bowl, hoe, and bundukamba, (burial blanket), which announces the entrance of the masks used in this ceremony while the deceased entrance to their home in the family compound is decorated with ritual elements (Davis, 72-73). Masks used during the yincomoli ceremony include the Yana Gulay mask, the Satimbe mask, the Sirigie mask, and the Kanaga mask. The Yana Gulay mask’s purpose is to impersonate a Fulani woman and is made from cotton cloth and cowell shells. The Satimbe mask represents the women ancestors who are said to have discovered the purpose of the masks by guiding the spirits of the deceased into the afterlife. (Davis, 74) The Sirigie mask is a tall mask that is only used in funerals for the men that were alive during the holding of the Sigui ceremony (see below) (Davis, 68). The Kanaga masqueraders, at one point, dance and sit next to the bundkamba which represents the deceased.
The yingim and the danyim rituals each last a few days. These events are held annually to honor the elders that have died since the last Dama. The yingim consists of the sacrifice of cows, or other valuable animals, and large mock battles performed in order to help chase the spirit, known as the nyama, from the deceased body and village and towards the path to the afterlife (Davis, 68). The danyim then takes place a couple of months later. During the danyim, masqueraders perform dances every morning and evening for anytime up to six days depending on how that village performs this ritual. The masqueraders dance on the deceased’s rooftops, throughout the village, and the area of fields around the village (Davis, 68). Until the masqueraders have completed their dances and every ritual has been performed, it is said that any misfortune can be blamed on the remaining spirits of the dead (Davis, 68). [edit] Cults The Dogon know different cults:
Sigui: the most important ceremony of the Dogon. It takes place every 65 years and can take several years. The last one started in 1967 and ended in 1973, the next one will start in 2032. The Sigui ceremony symbolises the dead of the first ancestor (not to be confounded with Lébé) till the moment that humanity acquired the use of the spoken word. The Sigui is a long procession that starts and ends in the village of Youga Dogorou and goes from one village to the other during several months or years. All men wear masks and dance in long processions. The Sigui has a secret language that women are not allowed to learn. The secret Society of Sigui plays a central role in the ceremony. They prepare the ceremonies a long time in advance, and they live for three months hidden outside of the villages while nobody is allowed to see them. The men from the Society of Sigui are called the Oloubarou. The villagers are afraid of them and fear is cultivated by a prohibition to go out at night, when sounds warn that the Oloubarou are out. The most important mask that plays a major role in the Sigui rituals is the Great Mask or the Mother of Masks. It is several meters long and is just held up by hand and not used to hide a face. This mask is newly created every 65 years. The Amma cult: worships the main, creator god Amma. The celebration is once a year and consists of offering boiled millet on the conical altar of Amma, colouring it white. The Lébé cult: worships the sacred snake Lébé, who was the first mortal human being. Lébé was transformed into a snake. The celebration is once a year and takes three days. The altar is a pointed conic structure on which the Hogon offers boiled millet while mentioning in his benediction eight grains plus one. Afterwards, the Hogon performs some rituals in his house that is also the home of Lébé. The last day, all the village men visit all the Binou altars and dance three times around the Lébé altar. The Hogon invites everybody that assisted to drink the millet beer. The Binou cult: uses totems, common ones for the entire village and individual ones for totem priests. A totem animal is worshipped on a Binou altar. Totems are for example the buffalo for Ogol-du-Haut, and the panther for Ogol-du-Bas. Normally, nobody will ever be harmed by its own totem animal, even if this is a crocodile as for the village of Amani. Here is a large pool of crocodiles that do not harm any villager. However, a totem animal might exceptionally harm if one has done something wrong. A worshipper is not allowed to eat his totem. For example, an individual with a buffalo as totem is not allowed to eat buffalo meat, but also not to use leather from its skin and even not to see a buffalo die. If this happens by accident he has to organise a purification sacrifice at the Binou altar. Boiled millet is offered and goats and chickens are sacrificed on a Binou altar. This colours the altar both white and red. Binou altars look like little houses with a door. They are bigger when the altar is for an entire village. A village altar has also the ‘cloud hook’, that will catch clouds and make it rain. The twin cult: the birth of twins is a sign of good luck. The enlarged Dogon families have cult rituals during which they evoke all their ancestors till their origin, the ancient pair of twins from the creation of the world myth. The Mono cult: the Mono altar is at the entry of every village. Unmarried young men celebrate the Mono cult once a year in January or February. They spend the night around the altar, singing and screaming and waving with fire torches. They hunt for mice that will be sacrificed on the altar at dawn. Dogon villages Dogon villages have different buildings:
Male granary: storage place for pearl millet and other grains. Building with a pointed roof. This building is well protected from mice. The amount of filled male granaries is an indication for the size and the richness of a guinna. Female granary: storage place for a woman's things, her husband has no access. Building with a pointed roof. It looks like a male granary but is less protected against mice. Here, she stores her personal belongings such as clothes, jewelry, money and some food. A woman is economically independent and earnings and things related to her merchandise are stored in her personal granary. She can for example make cotton or pottery. The amount of female granaries is an indication for the amount of women living in the guinna. Toguna (also called case à palabres): building only for men. They rest, discuss and take important decisions in the toguna. The roof of a toguna is made by 8 layers of millet stalks. It is a low building in which one cannot stand upright. This helps avoiding violence when discussions get heated.
