The Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection has in its
holdings a wide variety of African textiles including woven, Berber
pillow covers from Morocco, pounded, metal shawls from Egypt, kasai velvet made by the Kuba of Zaire, and lengths of brightly colored kente strip cloth from Ghana. Here, I explore the life of one object from these holdings, an agba Egungun masquerade costume made by the Yoruba people of Nigeria, West Africa, its past, present and future.
This recently acquired costume, its cultural importance and meanings within the Yoruba culture will be the vehicle through which I will explore the role of cloth by the Yoruba people. By examining the egungun tradition I will ultimately situate the masquerade and the materials used to construct it in a wider circle of practice and understanding involving the use of cloth in various Yoruba cultural practices. Firstly, I will provide a brief introduction into the egungun tradition and the spiritual cosmology of the Yoruba. I will then discuss other cultural traditions which feature cloth as central figure including dance and dress traditions. Once I have placed the egungun tradition within the Yoruba’s culture of cloth, I proceed by discussing the specificities of the particular Egungunin the HLATC including its materials, provenance and history. In essence, this paper hopes to serve as not only a curatorial record, but as a story of detective work which work documenting a journey of discovery about an object.
Yoruba Cosmology and the Egungun Tradition
In order to understand the importance of this object, one must first place egungun within the larger cultural and religious practices of the Yoruba people. As discussed by Henry Drewal et. al in Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought, the Yoruba believe in a cosmos that is divided into two portions which are distinct in nature but inevitably connected. The aye is considered “the world of the living.” This world is characterized by visibility and the tangible. This world is often visited by elements of orun, or the “otherworld.” Olodumare is thought to be the “creator” who inhabits this world along with other forces such as orisa (gods), ara orun (ancestors) and oro, iwin, ajogun and egbe (various spirits). The synthesis and relationship between these two worlds and the human and supernatural forces that inhabit each can be understood in the Yoruba saying “The world is the marketplace [we visit], the otherworld is home.”
I will focus my discussion of the Yoruba cosmos on the role of the ancestors (ara orun) and gods (orisa) and their connection to the egungun masquerades. Before proceeding, it is important to examine the terminology I use to discuss this masking tradition thereby clarifying the relationship of the masking tradition to the ancestors and gods of the Yoruba cosmology. The words “egungun” and “Egungun” have often been used interchangeably in literature relating to this tradition. In Drewal’s “The Arts of Egungun among the Yoruba People,” the author describes the difference between the two terms. While the term “egungun” refers to any masquerade or masking practice, “Egungun” denotes the specific masking tradition among the Oyo Yoruba where it is believed that the practice originated. According to Drewal, the term “egungun,” the broader of the two, it thought to refer to the concept of the “powers concealed” and can relate to practices which work to both honor ancestors and gods, both of which are considered “beings from beyond.” “Egungun” has been more explicitly associated with the honoring of the ancestors in particular, the Egungun society and “a descendant’s commitment to continuing the traditions of his predecessors and maintaining the reputation of his lineage.”
In this way, the egungun tradition can be understood as masking tradition which works to both honor ancestors and gods whereas the Egungun among the Oyo has been specifically linked to ancestor honoring in particular. I will use the term “Egungun” to refer to the object in the HLATC (Accession number 2004.1.1) as I believe it comes from the city of Ibadan which Drewal classifies within the category of masquerades found among Oyo sub-ethnic groups in Oyo, Ibadan, and Osun provinces. I will elaborate on how I arrived at the provenience in a later section.
Within this geographical region, many types of Egungun exist. Marilyn Houlberg identifies the following categories: 1) onidan “owner of miracles” Egungun which Thompson categorizes as “trickster” or satirical masquerades and 2) paka Egungun that can be recognized by their “horizontal superstructure consisting of a piece of wood about 1.2 to 1.5 meters in length from which colorful appliquéd panels are suspended.” For the purposes of this study, I will refer to the object (HLATC 2004.1.1) as an “agba Egungun.” The word “agba” meaning “senior” or “big” Other types of egungun predominate in regions outside of Oyo, but in the interest of limiting the study to the geographically relevant area, I will discuss these types, discussed thoroughly by Drewal in The Fabrics of Culture.
Agba Egungun, not unlike paaka Egungun, are characterized by their multi-layered, brightly colored lappets or strips of cloth with saw-toothed edging attached to a sculptural headdress made of wood and cloth but lacking the horizontal superstructure which characterizes the paaka Egungun. The headpiece can vary greatly even within the Oyo region and can include figural carvings, such as human or animal forms as well as more abstract carved forms. Attached to the headpiece is a body suit which completely covers the performer and is most often made of aso oke or strip woven indigo cloth locally produced and usually hand woven. The cloth comprising the lappets is commonly a mix of imported cloths from Europe, America and sometimes even Southeast Asia imported to and sometimes produced for the African textile market. Common fabrics include velvet thought in Yorubaland to be “the epitome of good taste” (aran tii pari aso) and damask considered “the royal, gold-threaded cloth that has a strong metallic sheen in sunlight” (mosaaji aso oba tii tanna yanranyanran), as related in Abiodu , Beier and Pemberton. Other physical characteristics include a white and black knotted mesh face panel through which the performer can see, the use of medals, cowry shells and buttons to adorn particularly the area surrounding the knotted mesh, and the use of medicinal packets or amulets attached to the costume.
As Pemberton discusses inYoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought, the masquerades’ construction, like the worshipping of the ancestor itself, is made possible through a wide network of family and community involvement. While the ensemble is meant to honor the ancestor, it also speaks about the patron and family who finance the construction of the masquerade: “For the Yoruba the ancestral ensembles are designed to disclose the presence and power of the living dead and also the status and filial piety of the ‘owner’ of an egungun.” In this way, the ensemble reflects the wealth, status and alliances of a particular family telling us as much about the living as the dead it is meant to honor.
An egungun is often created through a divination process whereby an individual learns that a deceased relative requires that an egungun is created. The individual will collaborate with a masquerade maker to decide on the appropriate type which may or may not be outlined through divination or meditation. Every detail must be decided upon including the types of fabric to be used, the amulets and medicinal packets to be included on the masquerade, and whether a carver needs to be commissioned to make a headpiece. Once the appropriate individuals have been commissioned including the carver and herbalist, the masquerade will be constructed. Once constructed, the masquerade is taken to the Egungun society where the necessary rites will be performed and where it will be decided who dances in that particular ensemble. Finally, the egungun is named.
One important aspect of the costume which manifests in its design and construction is the role that the cloth plays in concealing the performer. The masquerader is completely concealed throughout the dance including their face, hands and legs. In fact, word “egungun” means “powers concealed.” Concealment of the performer has deep rooted meanings which are bound up in commonly held notions of the relationship between secrecy and power among the Yoruba people:
It is significant that cloth is the material that literally covers the whole body and metaphorically prevents the masker’s ‘secrets’ and mortality from being revealed in public. Even if someone knows the identity of the masker, as a few in the crowd inevitably would, it is forbidden to reveal it in public.
In this way, the role of concealment, both literally of the performer and metaphorically of the spirit, ancestors and the secrets that contribute to their powers, are central to what egungun is at its core. This, along with other objects such as beaded, veiled crowns worn by royalty, highlight the important relationship between concealment, secrecy and power that the Yoruba hold central in their belief system.
Odun Egungun festivals are held annually or biennially throughout the Oyo Yoruba area or as needed on important family occasions including a death, familial conflict or sickness. The festival involves not only the costume itself but dancing, drumming and singing or chanting of particular verses. Just as many members of the community are involved in its initial production, the community participates in the Egungun festival where one or more Egungun will perform. Masqueraders and drummers are exclusively men although women actively participate in the singing or chanting of verses.
As Aremu states, when not used, Egungun are stored in safe places, both in terms of their physical preservation as well as in an effort to safeguard their spiritual properties: “It is a sign of honor to keep these costumes safe from all external negative tendencies. Rituals are also performed; these vary according to the accepted norms governing the well-being of the costumes.” The storage of costumes can relate explicitly to the materials used to construct the costumes themselves showing a sensitivity to and awareness of materials, their properties and their storage solutions: “Sometimes, the costume is hung after the festivity on a stand made of the ahun tree. This is known as langanga since, in most cases, ahun wood is used for mask carving.”
Power in Cloth
The Yoruba have a rich material culture landscape and history. They have produced and continue to make some of the most widely appreciated art in the world. Among their renowned skills, is their ability to produce varied and intricately designed cloth such as adire (cassava paste and indigo print and dye method) and aso oke (strip woven indigo cloth). In this section, I will discuss the way in which textiles are used in Yoruba dress and dance and relate these practices to that of the egungun masquerade traditions.
A common saying in Yorubaland is “Asp la riki ki a to ki eniyan” or “It is the cloth we should greet before greeting the wearer.” This saying illustrates that in some contexts the cloth that the person wears is more important than the physical attractiveness of the person themselves. It also indicates that one’s importance or status is tangibly linked the garments they wear and cloth they possess.
Clothing such as the agbada and the dandogo are excellent examples of the importance of cloth and its use in clothing in Yoruba culture. An “agbada," is a large, voluminous garment made from strip woven cloth worn by men. It is made from many strips of cloth sewn together with armholes extending past the natural length of the arm which are then folded up onto the shoulders, allowing the excess to flow down on the sides (See Figure 1). HLATC has two agbada in its holdings.
The dandogo is a larger version of the agbada. The term “dandogo” derives from the Hausa word “dogo” meaning to “grow larger.” The theme of becoming larger through clothing is what Beverly Gordon describes as the “big cloth equals big man” phenomenon whereby clothing is used to not only enhance physical stature but also personal and social status of a given man. Drewal discusses this idea by noting that clothing is said to add (buyi kun) to the person and, in Yoruba fashions, it literally does.
A garment in which the use of cloth closely mirrors that of the egungun masquerade is the gbariye dandogo, the cloth “with pleats” worn by traditional dancers in Yorubaland: The gold and indigo strips are cut and sewn together (pleated and tapered) so that the skirt flares, extending into the surrounding space, forming almost a full circle, revealing the dancer’s feet and trousered legs. The dancer whirls, bending forward at times so that the skirt undulated, revealing the contrasting colors of the cloth’s lining. It is the cloth, not the dancer, that is the center of attention; and those standing nearby invariably feel the movement of the air as the dancer whirls before them and the cloth comes alive.
When one compares this image and description with that of the egungun, the similarities are striking (Figure 2): The senior bata drum sounds the phrase, titiketike, which the junior drum repeats, and suddenly the Egungun image is whirling with all his might, the cloths about his body blowing in the wind…The other Egungun uses all his power in performance. As soon as the drums start, he begins to dance, all his cloths swirling like a violent breeze. One can see how the use of cloth and the cultural sensitivity to its spiritual and physical properties is echoed again and again in Yoruba ritual settings.
What is central in both dances incorporating gbariye dandogo and egungun masquerade is not only the abundance and use of cloth but the swirling motions and the resulting wind created in both performances. As Thompson suggests, the creation of wind through the movement of cloth, particularly in the egungun tradition is related the myth surrounding Oya, the goddess of whirlwinds and her role as the wife of Shango, the Thundergod. What is exhibited in both gbariye dandogo and egungun are the “essential elements: cloth, wind and power.”
The importance placed on cloth, particularly in its use in Egungun masquerades, draws from myths and beliefs surrounding the practice. Folklore suggests that cloth, particularly red cloth, has apotropaic qualities and that it was once used to ward off disease and epidemics. Even the saw-tooth borders known as igbala, which edge the lappets has ties to this myth. It is believed that Shango, the Thundergod, was spared from the epidemic because his followers used red cloth with saw-tooth edging to ward off the sickness: “The word, igbala, means: ‘something that saves a person.” In this way, cloth is believed to have immortal and powerful properties that when combined with song, dance and ceremony, can affect the lives of the Yoruba people.
The immortal properties associated with Egungun inevitably have ties to the fact that the Egungun performer and their costume acts as a bridge between the worlds of the living and the dead, both by invoking ancestral spirits as well as through the use of cloth closely associated with funeral rites and shrouds. The Yoruba believe that “we were born wearing cloth.” Furthermore, the close link between cloth and immortality can be found expressed in divination poetry explicitly connecting cloth with the creator, Olodumare:
Young ones never hear the death of cloth,
Cloth only wears to shreds.
Old ones never hear the death of cloth,
Cloth only wears to shreds.
Young ones never hear the death of Olodumare,
Cloth only wears to shreds.
Old ones never hear the death of Olodumare
Cloth only wears to shreds.
Through these links, one can see the explicit connection the Yoruba make between cloth and lifecycle, their cosmos and power. Understanding these connections is fundamental in terms of xamining Egungun and their meaning.
Cataloging with all the Senses
My true engagement with this object began only when I stopped looking for answers elsewhere and began to engage the object at a deeper level. Looking closely at an object with all of the senses of touch, sight and hearing, is a practice learned not only through material culture analysis research methods but also through years of museum work helped me to realize that an object, especially one as multilayered as the Egungun, is a way of revealing valuable insights about its former lives and history.
There are two layers of engagement which are important in understanding this object. Drawing from Suzanne Preston Blier’s “Ways of Experiencing African Art: The Role of Patina,” I will refer to these two layers as the “literal patina of engagement” and the “metaphorical patina of engagement.” Whereby an object can acquire a literal patina referring to “a spectrum of traits that provide evidence of an object’s history” it can also acquire metaphorical patina: The possible Latin root of patina, pati, “to suffer,” suggests that the damage or marking associated with such use may carry metaphoric properties. As both a process and a metaphor, patina offers a provocative frame from which to address the myriad ways in which elements outside an original work of African art (and sometimes the intent of the artist) impact on how the object is experienced and what it comes to mean. I use this concept as a model to think about the great number of individuals who had or will have a relationship and sensate engagement with our Egungun. The literal patina of engagement is comprised of the object’s maker (both of the individual cloth and fabric samples as well as the maker of the actual masquerade ensemble), the owner or patron, the priest of divination, the herbalist, the performers (singers, masquerader, drummers), the spectators from the community and of course, the ancestor who the masquerade is meant to honor. The metaphoric patina of engagement includes the dealer or seller, the buyer or donor, the researcher, the museum and collections staff and finally the visitor who views the object.
Thinking about all those who engaged and will engage with the object along its life journey helps me to understand not only the life of the object but the individuals, each of whom connects with it through his or her own cultures and beliefs. This engagement, both at the literal and metaphoric levels, forms a picture of the object in terms of its affiliations, associations and experiences that helps us to understand the life it has led and the new life it is beginning by entering a public museum or collection.
After completing this project, I view my position as a researcher and museum professional in a new and ultimately more meaningful light. As a producer of knowledge about and interpreter for the object, it is my responsibility to present its lives as accurately and wholly as possible for both those who created it and those who hope to learn about its many layers.
Molly Greenfield
Sources
Abiodun, Rowland, Ulli Beier and John Pemberton III. Cloth Only Wears to Shred:Yoruba Textiles and Photographs from the Beier Collection. Amherst: Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, 2004.
Aremu, P.S.O. “Between Myth and Reality: Yoruba Egungun Costumes as Commemorative Clothes,” Journal of Black Studies 22:1 1991, 10.
Berzock, Kathleen Bickford, Personal communication, April 27, 2005.
Blier, Suzanne Preston. “Ways of Experiencing African Art: The Role of Patina,” in Art of the Senses: African Art Masterpieces from the Teel Collection. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 2004.
Drewal, Henry John, “Pagentry and Power in Yoruba Costuming,” in The Fabrics of Culture. New York: Mouton, 1979.
Drewal, Henry John, “The Arts of Egungun among Yoruba People,” African Arts 11:3 1978, 18-19.
Drewal, Henry John, John Pemberton III and Rowland Abiodun, Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought. New York: The Center for African Art and Harry N.Abrams, 1989.
Houlberg, Marily Hammersley, “Notes on Egungun Masquerades among the Oyo Yoruba,” African Arts 11:3 1978, 56-61.
Ola, Yomi, Personal communication April 21, 2005.
Picton, John. African Textiles. London: British Museum Publications, 1989.
This recently acquired costume, its cultural importance and meanings within the Yoruba culture will be the vehicle through which I will explore the role of cloth by the Yoruba people. By examining the egungun tradition I will ultimately situate the masquerade and the materials used to construct it in a wider circle of practice and understanding involving the use of cloth in various Yoruba cultural practices. Firstly, I will provide a brief introduction into the egungun tradition and the spiritual cosmology of the Yoruba. I will then discuss other cultural traditions which feature cloth as central figure including dance and dress traditions. Once I have placed the egungun tradition within the Yoruba’s culture of cloth, I proceed by discussing the specificities of the particular Egungunin the HLATC including its materials, provenance and history. In essence, this paper hopes to serve as not only a curatorial record, but as a story of detective work which work documenting a journey of discovery about an object.
Yoruba Cosmology and the Egungun Tradition
In order to understand the importance of this object, one must first place egungun within the larger cultural and religious practices of the Yoruba people. As discussed by Henry Drewal et. al in Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought, the Yoruba believe in a cosmos that is divided into two portions which are distinct in nature but inevitably connected. The aye is considered “the world of the living.” This world is characterized by visibility and the tangible. This world is often visited by elements of orun, or the “otherworld.” Olodumare is thought to be the “creator” who inhabits this world along with other forces such as orisa (gods), ara orun (ancestors) and oro, iwin, ajogun and egbe (various spirits). The synthesis and relationship between these two worlds and the human and supernatural forces that inhabit each can be understood in the Yoruba saying “The world is the marketplace [we visit], the otherworld is home.”
I will focus my discussion of the Yoruba cosmos on the role of the ancestors (ara orun) and gods (orisa) and their connection to the egungun masquerades. Before proceeding, it is important to examine the terminology I use to discuss this masking tradition thereby clarifying the relationship of the masking tradition to the ancestors and gods of the Yoruba cosmology. The words “egungun” and “Egungun” have often been used interchangeably in literature relating to this tradition. In Drewal’s “The Arts of Egungun among the Yoruba People,” the author describes the difference between the two terms. While the term “egungun” refers to any masquerade or masking practice, “Egungun” denotes the specific masking tradition among the Oyo Yoruba where it is believed that the practice originated. According to Drewal, the term “egungun,” the broader of the two, it thought to refer to the concept of the “powers concealed” and can relate to practices which work to both honor ancestors and gods, both of which are considered “beings from beyond.” “Egungun” has been more explicitly associated with the honoring of the ancestors in particular, the Egungun society and “a descendant’s commitment to continuing the traditions of his predecessors and maintaining the reputation of his lineage.”
In this way, the egungun tradition can be understood as masking tradition which works to both honor ancestors and gods whereas the Egungun among the Oyo has been specifically linked to ancestor honoring in particular. I will use the term “Egungun” to refer to the object in the HLATC (Accession number 2004.1.1) as I believe it comes from the city of Ibadan which Drewal classifies within the category of masquerades found among Oyo sub-ethnic groups in Oyo, Ibadan, and Osun provinces. I will elaborate on how I arrived at the provenience in a later section.
Within this geographical region, many types of Egungun exist. Marilyn Houlberg identifies the following categories: 1) onidan “owner of miracles” Egungun which Thompson categorizes as “trickster” or satirical masquerades and 2) paka Egungun that can be recognized by their “horizontal superstructure consisting of a piece of wood about 1.2 to 1.5 meters in length from which colorful appliquéd panels are suspended.” For the purposes of this study, I will refer to the object (HLATC 2004.1.1) as an “agba Egungun.” The word “agba” meaning “senior” or “big” Other types of egungun predominate in regions outside of Oyo, but in the interest of limiting the study to the geographically relevant area, I will discuss these types, discussed thoroughly by Drewal in The Fabrics of Culture.
Agba Egungun, not unlike paaka Egungun, are characterized by their multi-layered, brightly colored lappets or strips of cloth with saw-toothed edging attached to a sculptural headdress made of wood and cloth but lacking the horizontal superstructure which characterizes the paaka Egungun. The headpiece can vary greatly even within the Oyo region and can include figural carvings, such as human or animal forms as well as more abstract carved forms. Attached to the headpiece is a body suit which completely covers the performer and is most often made of aso oke or strip woven indigo cloth locally produced and usually hand woven. The cloth comprising the lappets is commonly a mix of imported cloths from Europe, America and sometimes even Southeast Asia imported to and sometimes produced for the African textile market. Common fabrics include velvet thought in Yorubaland to be “the epitome of good taste” (aran tii pari aso) and damask considered “the royal, gold-threaded cloth that has a strong metallic sheen in sunlight” (mosaaji aso oba tii tanna yanranyanran), as related in Abiodu , Beier and Pemberton. Other physical characteristics include a white and black knotted mesh face panel through which the performer can see, the use of medals, cowry shells and buttons to adorn particularly the area surrounding the knotted mesh, and the use of medicinal packets or amulets attached to the costume.
As Pemberton discusses inYoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought, the masquerades’ construction, like the worshipping of the ancestor itself, is made possible through a wide network of family and community involvement. While the ensemble is meant to honor the ancestor, it also speaks about the patron and family who finance the construction of the masquerade: “For the Yoruba the ancestral ensembles are designed to disclose the presence and power of the living dead and also the status and filial piety of the ‘owner’ of an egungun.” In this way, the ensemble reflects the wealth, status and alliances of a particular family telling us as much about the living as the dead it is meant to honor.
An egungun is often created through a divination process whereby an individual learns that a deceased relative requires that an egungun is created. The individual will collaborate with a masquerade maker to decide on the appropriate type which may or may not be outlined through divination or meditation. Every detail must be decided upon including the types of fabric to be used, the amulets and medicinal packets to be included on the masquerade, and whether a carver needs to be commissioned to make a headpiece. Once the appropriate individuals have been commissioned including the carver and herbalist, the masquerade will be constructed. Once constructed, the masquerade is taken to the Egungun society where the necessary rites will be performed and where it will be decided who dances in that particular ensemble. Finally, the egungun is named.
One important aspect of the costume which manifests in its design and construction is the role that the cloth plays in concealing the performer. The masquerader is completely concealed throughout the dance including their face, hands and legs. In fact, word “egungun” means “powers concealed.” Concealment of the performer has deep rooted meanings which are bound up in commonly held notions of the relationship between secrecy and power among the Yoruba people:
It is significant that cloth is the material that literally covers the whole body and metaphorically prevents the masker’s ‘secrets’ and mortality from being revealed in public. Even if someone knows the identity of the masker, as a few in the crowd inevitably would, it is forbidden to reveal it in public.
In this way, the role of concealment, both literally of the performer and metaphorically of the spirit, ancestors and the secrets that contribute to their powers, are central to what egungun is at its core. This, along with other objects such as beaded, veiled crowns worn by royalty, highlight the important relationship between concealment, secrecy and power that the Yoruba hold central in their belief system.
Odun Egungun festivals are held annually or biennially throughout the Oyo Yoruba area or as needed on important family occasions including a death, familial conflict or sickness. The festival involves not only the costume itself but dancing, drumming and singing or chanting of particular verses. Just as many members of the community are involved in its initial production, the community participates in the Egungun festival where one or more Egungun will perform. Masqueraders and drummers are exclusively men although women actively participate in the singing or chanting of verses.
As Aremu states, when not used, Egungun are stored in safe places, both in terms of their physical preservation as well as in an effort to safeguard their spiritual properties: “It is a sign of honor to keep these costumes safe from all external negative tendencies. Rituals are also performed; these vary according to the accepted norms governing the well-being of the costumes.” The storage of costumes can relate explicitly to the materials used to construct the costumes themselves showing a sensitivity to and awareness of materials, their properties and their storage solutions: “Sometimes, the costume is hung after the festivity on a stand made of the ahun tree. This is known as langanga since, in most cases, ahun wood is used for mask carving.”
Power in Cloth
The Yoruba have a rich material culture landscape and history. They have produced and continue to make some of the most widely appreciated art in the world. Among their renowned skills, is their ability to produce varied and intricately designed cloth such as adire (cassava paste and indigo print and dye method) and aso oke (strip woven indigo cloth). In this section, I will discuss the way in which textiles are used in Yoruba dress and dance and relate these practices to that of the egungun masquerade traditions.
A common saying in Yorubaland is “Asp la riki ki a to ki eniyan” or “It is the cloth we should greet before greeting the wearer.” This saying illustrates that in some contexts the cloth that the person wears is more important than the physical attractiveness of the person themselves. It also indicates that one’s importance or status is tangibly linked the garments they wear and cloth they possess.
Clothing such as the agbada and the dandogo are excellent examples of the importance of cloth and its use in clothing in Yoruba culture. An “agbada," is a large, voluminous garment made from strip woven cloth worn by men. It is made from many strips of cloth sewn together with armholes extending past the natural length of the arm which are then folded up onto the shoulders, allowing the excess to flow down on the sides (See Figure 1). HLATC has two agbada in its holdings.
The dandogo is a larger version of the agbada. The term “dandogo” derives from the Hausa word “dogo” meaning to “grow larger.” The theme of becoming larger through clothing is what Beverly Gordon describes as the “big cloth equals big man” phenomenon whereby clothing is used to not only enhance physical stature but also personal and social status of a given man. Drewal discusses this idea by noting that clothing is said to add (buyi kun) to the person and, in Yoruba fashions, it literally does.
A garment in which the use of cloth closely mirrors that of the egungun masquerade is the gbariye dandogo, the cloth “with pleats” worn by traditional dancers in Yorubaland: The gold and indigo strips are cut and sewn together (pleated and tapered) so that the skirt flares, extending into the surrounding space, forming almost a full circle, revealing the dancer’s feet and trousered legs. The dancer whirls, bending forward at times so that the skirt undulated, revealing the contrasting colors of the cloth’s lining. It is the cloth, not the dancer, that is the center of attention; and those standing nearby invariably feel the movement of the air as the dancer whirls before them and the cloth comes alive.
When one compares this image and description with that of the egungun, the similarities are striking (Figure 2): The senior bata drum sounds the phrase, titiketike, which the junior drum repeats, and suddenly the Egungun image is whirling with all his might, the cloths about his body blowing in the wind…The other Egungun uses all his power in performance. As soon as the drums start, he begins to dance, all his cloths swirling like a violent breeze. One can see how the use of cloth and the cultural sensitivity to its spiritual and physical properties is echoed again and again in Yoruba ritual settings.
What is central in both dances incorporating gbariye dandogo and egungun masquerade is not only the abundance and use of cloth but the swirling motions and the resulting wind created in both performances. As Thompson suggests, the creation of wind through the movement of cloth, particularly in the egungun tradition is related the myth surrounding Oya, the goddess of whirlwinds and her role as the wife of Shango, the Thundergod. What is exhibited in both gbariye dandogo and egungun are the “essential elements: cloth, wind and power.”
The importance placed on cloth, particularly in its use in Egungun masquerades, draws from myths and beliefs surrounding the practice. Folklore suggests that cloth, particularly red cloth, has apotropaic qualities and that it was once used to ward off disease and epidemics. Even the saw-tooth borders known as igbala, which edge the lappets has ties to this myth. It is believed that Shango, the Thundergod, was spared from the epidemic because his followers used red cloth with saw-tooth edging to ward off the sickness: “The word, igbala, means: ‘something that saves a person.” In this way, cloth is believed to have immortal and powerful properties that when combined with song, dance and ceremony, can affect the lives of the Yoruba people.
The immortal properties associated with Egungun inevitably have ties to the fact that the Egungun performer and their costume acts as a bridge between the worlds of the living and the dead, both by invoking ancestral spirits as well as through the use of cloth closely associated with funeral rites and shrouds. The Yoruba believe that “we were born wearing cloth.” Furthermore, the close link between cloth and immortality can be found expressed in divination poetry explicitly connecting cloth with the creator, Olodumare:
Young ones never hear the death of cloth,
Cloth only wears to shreds.
Old ones never hear the death of cloth,
Cloth only wears to shreds.
Young ones never hear the death of Olodumare,
Cloth only wears to shreds.
Old ones never hear the death of Olodumare
Cloth only wears to shreds.
Through these links, one can see the explicit connection the Yoruba make between cloth and lifecycle, their cosmos and power. Understanding these connections is fundamental in terms of xamining Egungun and their meaning.
Cataloging with all the Senses
My true engagement with this object began only when I stopped looking for answers elsewhere and began to engage the object at a deeper level. Looking closely at an object with all of the senses of touch, sight and hearing, is a practice learned not only through material culture analysis research methods but also through years of museum work helped me to realize that an object, especially one as multilayered as the Egungun, is a way of revealing valuable insights about its former lives and history.
There are two layers of engagement which are important in understanding this object. Drawing from Suzanne Preston Blier’s “Ways of Experiencing African Art: The Role of Patina,” I will refer to these two layers as the “literal patina of engagement” and the “metaphorical patina of engagement.” Whereby an object can acquire a literal patina referring to “a spectrum of traits that provide evidence of an object’s history” it can also acquire metaphorical patina: The possible Latin root of patina, pati, “to suffer,” suggests that the damage or marking associated with such use may carry metaphoric properties. As both a process and a metaphor, patina offers a provocative frame from which to address the myriad ways in which elements outside an original work of African art (and sometimes the intent of the artist) impact on how the object is experienced and what it comes to mean. I use this concept as a model to think about the great number of individuals who had or will have a relationship and sensate engagement with our Egungun. The literal patina of engagement is comprised of the object’s maker (both of the individual cloth and fabric samples as well as the maker of the actual masquerade ensemble), the owner or patron, the priest of divination, the herbalist, the performers (singers, masquerader, drummers), the spectators from the community and of course, the ancestor who the masquerade is meant to honor. The metaphoric patina of engagement includes the dealer or seller, the buyer or donor, the researcher, the museum and collections staff and finally the visitor who views the object.
Thinking about all those who engaged and will engage with the object along its life journey helps me to understand not only the life of the object but the individuals, each of whom connects with it through his or her own cultures and beliefs. This engagement, both at the literal and metaphoric levels, forms a picture of the object in terms of its affiliations, associations and experiences that helps us to understand the life it has led and the new life it is beginning by entering a public museum or collection.
After completing this project, I view my position as a researcher and museum professional in a new and ultimately more meaningful light. As a producer of knowledge about and interpreter for the object, it is my responsibility to present its lives as accurately and wholly as possible for both those who created it and those who hope to learn about its many layers.
Molly Greenfield
Sources
Abiodun, Rowland, Ulli Beier and John Pemberton III. Cloth Only Wears to Shred:Yoruba Textiles and Photographs from the Beier Collection. Amherst: Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, 2004.
Aremu, P.S.O. “Between Myth and Reality: Yoruba Egungun Costumes as Commemorative Clothes,” Journal of Black Studies 22:1 1991, 10.
Berzock, Kathleen Bickford, Personal communication, April 27, 2005.
Blier, Suzanne Preston. “Ways of Experiencing African Art: The Role of Patina,” in Art of the Senses: African Art Masterpieces from the Teel Collection. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 2004.
Drewal, Henry John, “Pagentry and Power in Yoruba Costuming,” in The Fabrics of Culture. New York: Mouton, 1979.
Drewal, Henry John, “The Arts of Egungun among Yoruba People,” African Arts 11:3 1978, 18-19.
Drewal, Henry John, John Pemberton III and Rowland Abiodun, Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought. New York: The Center for African Art and Harry N.Abrams, 1989.
Houlberg, Marily Hammersley, “Notes on Egungun Masquerades among the Oyo Yoruba,” African Arts 11:3 1978, 56-61.
Ola, Yomi, Personal communication April 21, 2005.
Picton, John. African Textiles. London: British Museum Publications, 1989.
