Mask (elu) for the Ekpo Society

This mask conveys malignant power and an aesthetic of ugliness in at least three ways. The dark color is associated with evil, and the crooked mouth symbolizes a distorted temperament, or perhaps a disease disfiguring the facial features of its victims. Finally, the bird surmounting the head is likely a sign of an individual with control over malevolent forces. Such small masks are attached to cone-shaped caps of fiber and cloth that cover the heads of the dancers. Once worn by a young man in the Ogoni men’s secret society known as Ekpo, this mask would have been danced at annual festivals or at the funerals of Ekpo society members, often juxtaposed with masquerades representing beautiful and beneficent forces.