Egungun masquerade, Ede, Nigeria

Object Details

Local Numbers: EENG-II-28, 5.
General: Title source: Index card based on photographer's notes.
Local Note: Typed index card reads, "E 2 Yrb. Yoruba. Nigeria, Ede. Egungun masked dance to honor ancestors. 5/1970. EE. neg.no. II-28, 5." The card was written in 1977-79 by Archives staff using source provided by photographer.

Topic: Masquerades; Dance; Masks; Clothing and dress -- Africa; Beadwork; Animals in art

See more items in: Eliot Elisofon Field collection; Eliot Elisofon Field collection / Nigeria

Archival Repository: Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art

Type: Archival materials; Negatives (photographic); Black-and-white negatives; Negatives

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.

Scope and Contents: "Throughout the Oyo Yoruba area annual or biennal festivals for the ancestors, called Odun Egungun, are held in every community. They consist of a series of rituals performed over several weeks within the compounds of the lineages that compose a town, as well as public rites at the ighale (the forest of the egungun), in the marketplace, and at the front of the palace. It is during Odun Egungun and on the occasion of commemorative funeral rites for the deceased that the living dead appear and are honored through the mediation of masquerades, or egungun, meaning "powers concealed"." [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.