Deformation mask "idiok ekpo" ·  Nigéria, Ibibio · ID: 3052218

Description

wood, pigments, rattan, plantfibre, base

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.