Sigui 1970: The Clamours of Amani

Beginning of the sextenary festival of the Sigui among the Dogon of the Bandiagara cliff in Mali. This first ceremony takes place at the village of Yougo Dogorou. The men, shaved and dressed in ritual clothes of the Sigui, enter the public square dancing the snake dance. They honor the terraces of the famous dead of the last sixty years and go to drink the sacramental millet beer.

The second year of the Sigui ceremonies, celebrated every sixty years by the Dogons of the Bandiagara cliffs, Mali, takes place in the village of Tyogou.

The third year of the Sigui ceremonies, celebrated every sixty years by the Dogons of the Bandiagara cliffs, Mali, takes place in the village of Bongo.

The fifth year of the Sigui ceremonies, celebrated every sixty years by the Dogons of the Bandiagara cliffs, Mali, takes place in the village of Idyeli.

The young goat herders from the cliff of Bandiagara practice on the stone drums of their ancestors. An ethnomusicological film experiment describing the subtle plays of the right and left hand of Dogon drummers.

Burial of the Hogon of Sanga, Dogon religious leader of Lower Ogol, Mali.

In 1972, the Dogon of the Bandiagara cliff in Mali celebrated the funeral of Anaï Dolo, head of the Bongo Masks Society, who died at the age of 122. On this occasion, the large Bongo mask, is erected and for twenty days, family members, elders, men from neighbouring villages purify the village.

Beginning of the sextenary festival of the Sigui among the Dogon of the Bandiagara cliff in Mali. This first ceremony takes place at the village of Yougo Dogorou. The men, shaved and dressed in ritual clothes of the Sigui, enter the public square dancing the snake dance. They honor the terraces of the famous dead of the last sixty years and go to drink the sacramental millet beer.