Object Details
- Local Numbers
- E 2 IBO 40 EE 59
- General
- Title is provided by EEPA staff based on photographer's notes.
- Local Note
- 58482 97
- Frame value is 2.
- Slide No. E 2 IBO 40 EE 59
- Photographer
- Elisofon, Eliot
- Collection Photographer
- Elisofon, Eliot
- Place
- Africa
- Nigeria
- Topic
- Masquerades
- Masks
- Clothing and dress -- Africa
- Rites and ceremonies -- Africa
- Dance
- Photographer
- Elisofon, Eliot
- Culture
- Igbo (African people)
- See more items in
- Eliot Elisofon Field collection
- Eliot Elisofon Field collection / Nigeria
- Extent
- 1 Slides (photographs) (col.)
- Date
- 1959
- Archival Repository
- Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
- Identifier
- EEPA.1973-001, Item EEPA EECL 3811
- Type
- Archival materials
- Slides (photographs)
- Color slides
- Collection Citation
- Eliot Elisofon Field Collection, EEPA 1973-001, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution
- Collection Rights
- Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
- Genre/Form
- Color slides
- Scope and Contents
- Original caption reads, "Masquerade dancers in Ibo village of Ugwuoba, between Awka and Enugu. Masked and costumed men are chosen by their villages to wear costumes and to masquerade during the annual yam festival, called 'Onwasato' in Ibo. The very colorful costumes of reds, whites and greens in stripes are called Iyolo, which means 'fine thing.' The raffia costumes are called Udo, which means 'rope.' The masked men represent various ju-jus, some good, some bad. The dancers are milling up and down the main road through the village, charging back and forth senselessly, dashing through the market area, shouting and jumping, some blowing horns hidden inside their masks. This was the first day of a four-day celebration, and was the first 'showing' of the masquerade costumes." [Master Catalogue: Literary Africa. Eliot Elisofon. 1959. K97, 1-36; K98, 1-20].
- "The appearance of the moon governs the communal activities such as the commencement of farm work, festivities and ritual offerings. For example, the seventh moon (Onwa asaa) appears in August and marks the month of the thanksgiving service to the ancestors. The community in turn obtains permission to eat new yams without fear of reprisals from their ancestors. The eighth month is Onwa asato, which appears during the month of September or October. Onwa asaa refers to the month when the ritual feast of new yam is celebrated. The seventh month thus becomes the official title by which the activity is known. During this festival, the appearance of masks and the masquerading features merely mark the celebration of the feast." [Anigbo O., 1987: Commensality and Human Relationship Among the Igbo. University of Nigeria Press]. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Life magazine and traveled to Africa from August 18, 1959 to December 20, 1959.
- Collection Restrictions
- Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
- Record ID
- ebl-1536870822481-1536871015529-0
