Object Details
- Local Numbers
- E 2 YRB 12.7 EE 70
- General
- Title is provided by EEPA staff based on photographer's notes.
- Local Note
- A18
- Frame value is 9.
- Slide No. E 2 YRB 12.7 EE 70
- Photographer
- Elisofon, Eliot
- Collection Photographer
- Elisofon, Eliot
- Place
- Africa
- Nigeria
- Topic
- Masquerades
- Clothing and dress -- Africa
- Masks
- Animals in art
- Animals in art -- Birds
- Animals in art -- Leopards
- Animals in art -- Rams
- Photographer
- Elisofon, Eliot
- Culture
- Yoruba (African people)
- See more items in
- Eliot Elisofon Field collection
- Eliot Elisofon Field collection / Nigeria
- Extent
- 1 Slides (photographs) (col.)
- Date
- 1970
- Archival Repository
- Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
- Identifier
- EEPA.1973-001, Item EEPA EECL 3950
- 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
- "A typical Gelede performance has two phases, a night concert and an afternoon dance session. In the afternoon sessions, colorfully attired performers entertain the public with intricate dances. The headdresses are usually danced in pairs, jingling their metal anklets (aro) to rhyme with the drum beats. Although it performs in a variety of social and religious contexts, the ultimate goal of the Gelede performance is to promote peace and happiness on earth." [Lawal B., 2004: The World is Fragile... Life Should Not Be Lived with Force: a Yoruba Headdress (Igi Gelede Onijakadi), See the Music, Hear the Dance, Prestel]. "Gelede imagery evokes all aspects of Yoruba society. The masks refer to a wide variety of female and male roles and activities either in objects associated with such roles or in genre scenes depicting them. They also depict animals that serve as metaphors for human actions or as illustrations of popular proverbs and songs that accompany the mask's appearance." [Drewal H. J., Pemberton J., Rowland Abiodun, 1989: Yoruba. Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought, Harry N. Abrams Inc.]. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon traveled to Africa from March 17, 1970 to July 17, 1970.
- Collection Restrictions
- Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
- Record ID
- ebl-1536870822481-1536871015945-4
