{"id":35009,"date":"2026-11-03T08:23:44","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T07:23:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artedeafrica.com\/?page_id=35009"},"modified":"2026-11-03T08:23:45","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T07:23:45","slug":"yoruba-masks-epa-gelede","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.artedeafrica.com\/en\/yoruba-masks-epa-gelede\/","title":{"rendered":"Yoruba masks: Epa and Gelede"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>An Epa mask and a Gelede mask invite different readings. Jes\u00fas Arrimadas Saavedra\u2019s catalogue records them under distinct names, with their own photographs and accounts. This selection brings together six records, making those differences accessible without treating Yoruba art as a single masking tradition.<\/p>\n<p>MFG-59 offers a starting point for Epa, while MCYC-9, MFANT-86 and MCYC-18 form a separate sequence named Gelede. Original references accompany the photographs. Each object record opens further views and the complete historical text, including interpretations that remain open to discussion.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h2>Documented context<\/h2>\n<p>UNESCO locates Gelede\u2019s oral heritage among Yoruba-Nago communities in Benin, Nigeria and Togo. It describes masks, song and dance honouring women\u2019s social role. The Met records Epa or Elefon as a separate mask designation associated with Nigeria.<\/p>\n<p class=\"small\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ich.unesco.org\/en\/lists?RL=00002\" rel=\"noopener\">UNESCO \u00b7 Patrimonio oral Gelede<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.metmuseum.org\/art\/collection\/search\/314387\" rel=\"noopener\">The Metropolitan Museum of Art \u00b7 Helmet Mask (Epa or Elefon)<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Reading the catalogue<\/h2>\n<p class=\"document-attribution\">Original historical document in Spanish<\/p>\n<blockquote lang=\"es\">\n<p>Las m\u00e1scaras epa participan en el culto del mismo nombre, llamado tambi\u00e9n elefon en Benin.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"small\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artedeafrica.com\/en\/coleccion\/epa-mask-mfg-59\/\">Jes\u00fas Arrimadas Saavedra \u00b7 original catalogue \u00b7 MFG-59<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"small\">This quotation retains the archive\u2019s wording. Editorial context and comparative sources do not certify the objects\u2019 attribution, age or provenance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An Epa mask and a Gelede mask invite different readings. Jes\u00fas Arrimadas Saavedra\u2019s catalogue records them under distinct names, with their own photographs and accounts. This selection brings together six records, making those differences accessible without treating Yoruba art as a single masking tradition. MFG-59 offers a starting point for Epa, while MCYC-9, MFANT-86 and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-35009","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artedeafrica.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/35009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artedeafrica.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artedeafrica.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artedeafrica.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artedeafrica.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35009"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.artedeafrica.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/35009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35039,"href":"https:\/\/www.artedeafrica.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/35009\/revisions\/35039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artedeafrica.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}