Egungun Ayeobadun, Ile Ejenwa

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art. Visual details below describe the original material.

A group of Egungun masqueraders consisting of both adults and children. Many of them are wearing netted headpieces to provide vision but to also obscure their identities. "When the child wearing an egungun costume dances or moves, the textile panels swing out in response. Unlike adult egungun, which are connected with social and spiritual realms, child versions serve a different yet no less important role, one of play and learning...Children masqueraders are typically between four and twelve years old; uninitiated, they are note considered fully adult." Published in Princeton University Art Museum Record, Volume 81, page 140.

Collection

John Pemberton III Collection

Archival grouping

John Pemberton III Collection / Slides / Odun Egungun: Festival for the Ancestors / Egungun Ceremonial Clothing and Masks

Catalog date

1981

Recorded places

Ila Orangun (Nigeria)

Cataloged creator or photographer

Pemberton, John, III, 1928-2016; Pemberton, Jane G., 1931 -; Fakeye, Lamidi Olonade, 1925 - 2009

Format and extent

1 Slides (photographs) (Color, 35 mm)

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