Egungun Masquerade Costume

The fabrics that comprise this ensemble include a variety of printed trade cloths, and reflect different images and messages assembled into one composite form. This attire would have been used in a performance for the ancestors known as “powers concealed” ("egungun"), in which the performer was entirely covered. During the "egungun" masquerade, the performer would engage in fast, swirling motions, designed to send the layers of cloth spinning in a bright whirl of fabric. The masquerade’s origins appear to be tied to the cult of Shango, the Yoruba god of thunder and lightning. The royal court at Oyo, where the historical Shango reigned and which ruled most of Yorubaland in the 18th and early 19th centuries, may have supported this connection.