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Re-painting, painting and change at Kondi Pegue The frequent repainting at Kondi Pegue has had an intriguing side effect: change. In several instances, the repeated application of paint layers over existing paintings has led to a modification of the overall appearance of motifs over time. In the course of decades, repainting has led to more or less drastic changes in form, as paintings became larger with every painting event and motifs that were once separate occasionally merged into one. Frequently, fine detail was added to motifs, mostly in white and black, elaborating the design. This detail fades quickly in unprotected parts of the wall, if not over-painted during the next painting event. Although it has often been claimed, by both researchers and the Dogon themselves, that motifs at Kondi Pegue are exclusively repainted and that no new motifs are added, a comparison of photographs taken at different times over the past century shows that this is not the case. New motifs have been added in great numbers, successively expanding the painted area. In recent years the northern and the upper parts of the site have received the most new paintings, since the southern part of the rock wall was already densely filled with motifs. In general, motifs change in two aspects: in outlines or general form, and in detail. This applies to both existing and to newly-added motifs. A number of motifs are added, but never re-marked, or are re-marked only rarely. New motifs may be added on top of those that are disappearing. Other motifs are left to fade and disappear over time. Motifs may, therefore, change over time in more than one respect: the same motif might have been newly added, undergone changes in outline and detail, have been left to fade for a time and subsequently may have been repainted and undergone further changes, and so on. The following section serves as an illustration of the intricate process of change at Kondi Pegue. | |
