Description:
blue pigment, carved representation on woman's headtie "gele"
Label Text:
In traditions practiced across the African continent, masks are part of larger spectacles filled with costume, dance, and music. Activated by the wearer, masks are assigned cultural meaning on the occasions of their use. The masks on display here illustrate the notion that masks are not worn: rather, masks are performers.
Gelede festivals practiced by Yoruba groups in southwestern Nigeria pay tribute to elder women known as “our mothers” (awon iya wa). These powerful women are believed to effect change, positive or negative, on society. They are the honored guests at Gelede festivals, intended to promote peace and prosperity.
Gelede performances reference different gender roles and various activities. In the documentary photograph reproduced below, male performers pay homage to female elders by masquerading as women. The men wear masks on the top of their heads, cloth veils over their faces, and large costumes made of cloth borrowed from local women.
Brightly painted headdresses incorporate imagery commenting on Yoruba life and philosophy. In the photograph, maskers wear headdresses depicting a bird attacking a coiled snake― a metaphor for competing spiritual forces.
The mask displayed nearby depicts a woman wearing a traditional Yoruba head wrap (gele). Traces of blue paint remain visible on the character’s braided hairstyle, and the face appears once to have been painted a warm brown color. This mask was probably stored when not in use and repainted for festival performances year after year.
KG, 2010
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+2003.99 |
