Object Details
- Local Numbers
- 182/1959-1960 EEPA 2000-070404
- General
- Title source: Dr. Simon Ottenberg, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
- Photographer
- Ottenberg, Simon
- Collection Photographer
- Ottenberg, Simon
- Place
- Africa
- Nigeria
- Topic
- Rites and ceremonies -- Africa
- Clothing and dress -- Africa
- Cultural landscapes
- Masquerades
- Masks
- Photographer
- Ottenberg, Simon
- Culture
- Igbo (African people)
- See more items in
- Simon Ottenberg photographs
- Extent
- 1 Slide (col.)
- Date
- 1959-1960
- Custodial History
- Donated by Simon Ottenberg, 2000.
- Archival Repository
- Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
- Identifier
- EEPA.2000-007, Item EEPA 2000-007-0404
- Type
- Archival materials
- Slides
- Color slides
- 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.
- Bibliography
- Masked rituals of Afikpo, the context of an African art; Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1975. Plate XIII, opp. p.168, bottom left. [published in connection with an exhibition shown at the Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, May 24-June 21, 1975].
- Genre/Form
- Color slides
- Scope and Contents
- This photograph was taken by Dr. Simon Ottenberg while conducting field research at Afikpo village-group, southeastern Nigeria, from September 1959 to December 1960.
- Original caption reads, "Njenje masked parade, which occurs in various villages, those of each community parading in their own and also in other villages. The rainy season festival day, iko okoci. They parade by age, generally, with some exceptions, from older to younger males by grades. Njenje is general term for this masquerade, and particularly for those who dress as women. at Ndibe village, Ezi Nwachi compound. Igri masquerader with style derived from Edda Village-Group west of Afikpo but generally carved at Afikpo. The cloth across his breast is called nwea ere (shirt-breast). Note the yellow plastic beads, also worn in red and other colors as waistbands for uninitiated girls." [Ottenberg field research notes, September 1959-December 1960, Part I].
- Publication caption reads, "Edda-style igri mask at an Afikpo njenji parade."
- "The most elaborate masquerade, njenji, presented as part of the four-day Dry Season Festival, Iko Okoci, is a parade of the young adult members through many of the communities of afikpo. The masked paraders walk in a line, arranged in an order of descending age. Many players are dressed in costumes that make them appear as females. Some walk side by side as couples, dressed as man and wife, frequently in European-style dress. Other paraders are costumed as scholars, priests, or as Muslims. The players are arranged by the type of wooden mask they wear. Accompanying the masked line are small groups of net-masked dancers in various raffia and costumes who dance and prance about." [ Ottenberg, 1975: Masked rituals of Afikpo, the context of an African art; Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1975].
- The photograph depicts one of several dancers wearing the Afikpo form of the igri mask of madness and youthful exuberance. The whole headdress is called ngwu, after the leaf it is made of. In their left hands they carry a sticklike apparatus known as egede. The igri players draw attention to the line of wood-masked players that follow them.
- Collection Restrictions
- Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
- Record ID
- ebl-1536864686513-1536864686774-3
