Deformation mask "idiok ekpo" · Nigeria, Igbo · ID: 3049524
sold
EUR 700
Provenance
Ursula Heijs-Voorhuis, Sint Agatha, The NetherlandsSrdjan Sremac, The Hague, The Netherlands
Size
H: 23 cm
H: 9.1 inch
Description
wood, pigments, animal hair, sheet metal,
During mask performances of the “ekpo” society, reincarnated ancestors who were immoral, agitated and wayward are represented in masks called “idiok ekpo”, whose moral ugliness is indicated through the dark surfaces and disfigurations from diseases like “gangosa”, facial paralysis or leprosy.