African Art

EGUNGUN COSTUME, 20th century
Cloth, vinyl, reed, cowry shells, and wood encrusted with sacrificial materials

Unknown Yoruba artist
Nigeria

Purchased with funds from the Alice Speed Stoll Accessions Trust 2003.8

Yoruba men wear Egungun masquerade costumes such as this at annual or biennial festivals to honor the ancestors and to ask for their blessings. The performer’s body is obscured by a mesh facemask and a blue-and-white striped bodysuit located under the elaborate strips of cloth. It is critical that the dancer’s identity remain hidden, for the Yoruba believe that the spirit of the ancestors inhabit the costume during the masquerade performance. The word egungun means powers concealed. During the masquerade, the performer dances and spins around, causing the strips of fabric to fly out in a colorful, dynamic display. This motion of the fabric is called a “breeze of blessing.”