Paper short abstract:

The Dogon population who has been studied, filmed and exhibited in the world's most prestigious museums, is currently facing a bioclimatic crisis and unprecedented political destabilisation. A dancer company is taking up the challenge to combat this situation by dancing in the markets.

Paper long abstract:

Jean Rouch, who has made films in which poetics allowed him to offer us a way to access funeral rituals in Dogon country, has also been strongly criticised for the same reason. And yet, as time goes by, these films allow us to grasp the richness and complexity of the rituals that are now threatened with extinction.

Since 2012, this population has had to resist both climatic uncertainties and repeated attacks by armed groups. Secular schools have been closed, and some teachers have been kidnapped, harvest and villages burned... If the media can regularly report on the fighting and clashes, it is more often a matter of promoting the bravery of the troops than of soliciting international aid. The museums that were the first to display the legendary statues remained surprisingly silent.

Faced with this situation, I concentrated my efforts on agricultural projects. At the same time, I also established a collaboration with a team that promotes contemporary dance in the markets. This collective of dancers campaigns in favour of exchange with the populations in order to awaken consciousness and strengthen the cohesion of the community around a common imaginary, a dream. "Because Man needs spaces of freedom in the face of the disruption and anguish of life...". Lab Don Sen Folo. Is poetry our only hope?