Egungun (Power Concealed) costume
1970s
"All work and no play makes one dull." (Babalawo (Diviner) Kolawole Ositola, 1986)
A playful, agile and acrobatic spirit once took this costume, lifted it over his head and began to swirl in circles. The long lappets that extend from the top would be sent flying around and were said to stir up a "breeze of blessing" from the ancestors. Such costumed ancestors came to create a spectacle that would "cheer up the community" with music, dance, shock and surprises. Cloths for the costumes illustrate the boom economics of the 1970s, when opulent brocades and velvets were imported into Nigeria from England and Japan in large quantities.
A feature film that shows Egungun helping a town decide what to do with a damaged car is Divine Carcasse, available in the SAM Teacher Resource Center in Volunteer Park.
Machine and handwoven silk, cotton, rayon, wood, and metal: patched and stitched
72 × 72 × 42 in. (182.9 × 182.9 × 106.7cm)
African Art Acquisition Fund and General Acquisition Fund
97.33
Photo: Susan Cole