Egungun Masquerades, Yoruba. Nigeria. (Photo: artSTOR)
The Egungun Masquerade comes from southern Yoruba. The outfit is made from cloth and consumes patchwork panels that flow throughout the masquerade. The outfit covers the entire body of the dancer. The beauty of the costume is very important to this style of Egungun; hence the vibrant colors of patchwork. Meaning and magic are associated with the cloth itself. The power of the masquerade lays that deep within the dance. The cloth is combined to resurrect the dead[1].
The embodiment of the dancer is very important to the Egungun masquerade. Egungun is associated with the honoring of the deceased spirits. The masquerade is also believed to assist the community if the spirits are honored properly. The spirit he is mimicking, which provides the power needed to assist the community, embodies the dancer of the masquerade. The power of the embodiment turns the dancer into someone who he is not, in order to serve as a link between the living and the dead and assist their community.
Upon joining the Egungun, the masqueraders must indicate that they are willing to oppose their elders. This provides the definition of lineage by opposing those who neglect their responsibilities[2].
[1] Robert Thompson, African Art in Motion, (London: University of California Press, Ltd., 1974), 219.
[2] Dennis Duerden, The Invisible Present: African Art & Literature, (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., 1975), 125.