Till early 20th century the hunger for slaves was so great that by the nineteen twenties –the Dogons, considered by their Muslim neighbors as potential booty,have been reduced to Less than hundred thousand – 81,862 according the 1921 census. the 600m high Bandiagara escarpment incoporation into the newly formed French Sudan proved hugely beneficial to the Dogons. Being skillful farmers they were able to expand and cultivate fields regardless of their proximity to the strategical security offered by the cliff inaccessible ravines into which their villages were incorporated for centuries.
By 1953 their population doubled to 220,000, in the 1976 census - 300,000, in 1987 census - 530,000, and reaching in the early nineties - 675,000.
In the late seventies, a new 40 km road was constructed connecting Bandigura to Sanya, thus finally physically connecting this reclusive society to the outside world. till today only 7% of the Dogon speak French, 70% are affluent only in one of the 14 varieties of the Dogon language causing inter comprehension difficulties even between adjacent villages.
During the past century the Dogon's "pristine" nature and their highly formalized art proved to be extremely luring the western taste. Marcel Giraule who lived and worked in the cliffs in the forties promoted an Idealized view of their religion,
A glimpse into the local perception of Giraule and of other "purists" can be glanced in Yambo Ouologuem book – "Bound to Violence" –
"this salesman and manufacturer of ideology …an Africanist school had been born."
It would be safe to assume that the Dogon's art rarity (apart from artistic and Liturgical merits) can be described as opposite in relation to the population curve. from scarce liturgical objects of the late nineteen century, to production in the eighties answering global demand. and style, patina and artistic merit has to considered only in relation to date.