Egungun mask

Society ingun is especially linked to the cult of ancestors. In ceremonies in honor of the notables, the chiefs and founders of the deceased clans, the masks or dancers who carry them embody the soul of the ancestors, who temporarily take possession of their bodies, in such a way that some elders recognize in them, by their way of moving and speaking, certain deceased. It is an invitation for the deceased to be present in the world of the living. The dead that the mask bearers have not met.

The mask is covered in colorful fabrics forming wide elongated and superimposed strips that slowly and majestically dance in the shape of a bell, forming wide and spectacular circles.

The Yoruba They use a wide range of colors is their masks and in the clothes that accompany them. Blue, red and black are the colors of this mask on a kaolin background. The blue color undoubtedly represents Oxum, orisha of iron and all those who handle it as warriors, farmers, blacksmiths, hunters or butchers. The red color evokes Sangho, orisha of lightning and thunder but also of justice. The black color to Exu, messenger orisha and mediator between divinities and men. The ears are located on both sides of the head, not of the face, in the shape of two discs, blue and red, ribbed. On the head a black creek as well as the headdress and outline.