Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the cultural use of Dogon maps as an expression of local identity. It describes aspects of Dogon mapping practice and embodied spatial experience by tourists through the use of objects that guide and canalise their movement.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores the cultural use of maps in the Malian Dogon Land as an expression of local identity. I examine here maps that are printed on bogolan (mud cloth) and which objectify the Bandiagara escarpment. This constitutes a highly touristified place classified in 1989 by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage site. I look at the commodification process of the Dogon landscape through maps as objects of tourism. These decorative artefacts that hang on the walls in local hostels or in the village tourist shops, trace down the itinary of the tourists alongside the escarpment. Hence, I shall examine the aspect of Dogon mapping practice as well as the embodied experience of the place by the tourists through the use of these maps that guide and canalise their movement.