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What does the cloth of the Egungun represent?
In essence, Egungun costumes represent the “fabrics of immortality,” shaping ways through which departed ancestors are reunited with their families.
What is Egungun and why is it performed?
Egungun Masquerade Dance Costume: Ekuu Egungun. Egungun is a visible manifestation of the spirits of departed ancestors who periodically revisit the human community for remembrance, celebration, and blessings.
Who was wearing Egungun as a fancy costume?
It is a centuries-old culture, common in West Africa among the Yoruba people in Nigeria, Togo, Benin republic and their descendants from the African Diaspora, particularly in Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Barbados, and the United States.
What is an Egungun mask?
The word egungun means masquerade, and these masks are used in Odun Egungun festivals, which are performed for ancestors throughout the Yoruba region. This mask’s elaborately grooved horns and central conical coiffure, which is painted blue, rise dramatically from the mask’s two faces.
How does the Egungun ceremony honor the ancestors?
Elaborate performances serve to commemorate the dead through the remembrance of their past life while simultaneously reinforcing the relationship between the living and the recently deceased ancestor.
What are Egungun masks traditionally used for in Nigeria?
The egungun are masked dancers who perform at festivals and other important ritual occasions. They wear nets over their faces to prevent identification, wear long and colorful robes, and are regarded as the representatives of the ancestors.
What are Egungun masks made of?
A very different kind of mask, which is made out of layers of colorful strips of cloth rather than a wooden mask and costume, belongs to the Yoruba of Nigeria. It is called egungun. The egungun dancer whirls the costume in circles so that the bits of cloth decorated with ribbons, mirrors, and metal fly through the air.
Do masquerades beat you?
Once you show fear, the masquerades will hold and scare you till you give them some money. They can go to the extent of flogging you. Be polite but firm, and let them know that you will not take any disrespect.
Why do people run away from egungun?
Egungun is a Yoruba masquerade known for its elaborate nature and how people fear the masquerade. Egungun festivals are celebrated in honour of the dead. Annual rites honouring the deceased are held in the Yoruba faith to ensure that their ancestors have a place among the living.
What are egungun masks traditionally used for in Nigeria?
Can you touch a Egungun?
Egungun is also feared. As a god he deserves awe and is holy. His robe is frightning, and the uninitiated are not allowed to touch it. The belief that touching the robe will kill the uninitiated, because of this the Egungun always has body guards with long sticks around him to make sure that nobody comes to close..
Are African masquerades real?
Masquerades play a central role in many cultures in western and central Africa. They are less common in northern, eastern, and southern Africa, although they occur among a few groups in these regions. Several BERBER groups in Morocco, for example, hold masquerades in connection with Muslim festivals.
What happens if a masquerade chases you?
If you run, they will chase you and flog you, and you will just end up being part of the whole show. Stand your ground.
What is the origin of masquerades?
Masquerade balls were extended into costumed public festivities in Italy during the 16th century Renaissance (Italian maschera). They were generally elaborate dances held for members of the upper classes, and were particularly popular in Venice. They have been associated with the tradition of the Venetian Carnival.
What are the four main types of Masquerade dancers?
Four main types of masquerader are identified by the roles they play: those who embody deities or nature spirits and to whom sacrifice is made to assure the fertility of land and people, those who embody the ancestral spirits, those who placate the spirits through their dance, and those who perform principally as …
What is an Egungun costume?
An Egungun costume is composed of multiple layers of cloth lappets made from expensive and prestigious textiles, expressing the wealth and status of a family as well as the power of the ancestor. The composition of an Egungun ensemble has several distinctive features.
What is Egungun Masquerade?
The egungun is a visible representation of spirits or ancestors (Egungun Masquerade). It is made up of many different materials like cloth, beads, and shells (Egungun Masquerade). Only the best materials are used for the costume as the costume is to include “potent empowering materials” (Egungun Masquerade).
What are the characteristics of Egungun?
In performances honoring ancestors, exquisite cloth is the major medium for the masker’s transformation. An Egungun costume is composed of multiple layers of cloth lappets made from expensive and prestigious textiles, expressing the wealth and status of a family as well as the power of the ancestor.
What is Egungun religion?
Yoruba religion (Òrìṣà-Ifá) Egungun, in the broadest sense of the word, refers to all types of Yoruba masquerades or masked, costumed figures. When used in its more specific, common sense, “Egungun” refers to the Yoruba masquerades connected with ancestor reverence, or to the ancestors themselves as a collective force.