Yorùbá. <em>Egúngún Masquerade Dance Costume (paka egúngún)</em>, ca. 1920–1948. Cotton, wool, wood, silk, synthetic textiles (including viscose rayon and acetate), indigo, and aluminum, est.: 55 x 6 x 63 in. (139.7 x 15.2 x 160 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Sam Hilu, 1998.125. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 1998.125_front_PS11.jpg)

Yorùbá. Egúngún Masquerade Dance Costume (paka egúngún), ca. 1920–1948. Cotton, wool, wood, silk, synthetic textiles (including viscose rayon and acetate), indigo, and aluminum, est.: 55 x 6 x 63 in. (139.7 x 15.2 x 160 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Sam Hilu, 1998.125. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 1998.125_front_PS11.jpg)

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How would a person wear this?

There is a solid wooden beam at the top that is meant to be balanced on top of the performer’s head. This wooden beam has handholds at either end, which allow the performer to spin the costume and make it move.

If you look closely at the striped panel near the center of the costume, you’ll see that it is made from a mesh fabric that would allow the performer to see out.

At what age do people start performing egúngún?

Young boys often get involved in egúngún performances. There isn’t a specific age limit, but even the youngest performers need to be able to run and twirl in elaborate costumes.

Boys in scaled-down costumes may hide under the skirts of an adult costume like this one and run out during the performance.

Why are women barred from this practice?

According to tradition, egúngún masks and costumes are only worn by men and boys belonging to certain groups within Yorùbá society.

Women do, however, play an important role as active spectators singing and dancing during the egúngún performance.

Egúngún Masquerade Dance Costume (paka egúngún)

Arts of Africa

About this Brooklyn Icon
The Brooklyn Museum is commemorating its 200th anniversary by spotlighting 200 standout objects in its encyclopedic collection.

Egúngún, meaning “masquerade” in Yorùbá, is celebrated across Yorùbáland in Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. Extensive research revealed that this paka masquerade costume was taken from the Lekewọgbẹ family shrine almost 70 years ago. Originally from Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́, Nigeria, the family now lives in Brooklyn, adding to the work's status as a Brooklyn Icon.

This paka, which was created in Ọyọ State, Nigeria, is embellished with hundreds of fabric panels of varying lengths, made of local indigo-dyed cotton. It also features fabrics imported from Asian and European markets, such as damasks, velvets, faux furs, and embroideries.

Such costumes are believed to possess supernatural powers that are concealed by the male dancers who wear them. The opulence and rarity of the fabrics that make up the masquerade represent wealth, access, and prestige. In motion, these costumes would swirl, sway, and dip with impressive speed, animating the panels and creating a hypnotic connection between the ancestral spirits and the world of the living. In this way, the costumes visually reference a verse from the literary corpus of Ifá, the Yorùbá religious and divinatory system: “Cloth only wears to shreds.” Just as cloth wears to shreds but never completely disappears, the living are transformed via death into a state of immortality.

CULTURE Yorùbá

MEDIUM Cotton, wool, wood, silk, synthetic textiles (including viscose rayon and acetate), indigo, and aluminum

Place Made: Lekewọgbẹ compound, Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́, Ọ̀yọ́ State, Nigeria

DATES ca. 1920–1948

DIMENSIONS est.: 55 x 6 x 63 in. (139.7 x 15.2 x 160 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Arts of Africa

ACCESSION NUMBER 1998.125

CREDIT LINE Gift of Sam Hilu

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Dance costume composed of a wooden beam, which rests on top of the head, draped in several layers of varied cotton and wool textile panels. Comparatively newer, resist-dyed and factory made cloths are on the outer layer of textile panels, while indigo-dyed panels are underneath. Textile panels are decorated with embossed and perforated aluminum geometric objects, sewed onto the surface. Condition : good. Conservation backing has been sewn onto the back of the innermost layer of panels. Two longer panels are separate from the main assemblage.

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Yorùbá. Egúngún Masquerade Dance Costume (paka egúngún), ca. 1920–1948. Cotton, wool, wood, silk, synthetic textiles (including viscose rayon and acetate), indigo, and aluminum, est.: 55 x 6 x 63 in. (139.7 x 15.2 x 160 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Sam Hilu, 1998.125. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 1998.125_front_PS11.jpg)

IMAGE front, 1998.125_front_PS11.jpg., 2018

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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

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