Masque facial anthropomorphe "mfon ekpo" ·  Nigéria, Ibibio-Anang · ID: 3050858

Description

wood, base

Appearances by the “ekpo” masks are regarded as visits by the ancestral spirits (“ekpo”) represented by the masks.

This mask shows a realistic depiction of a beautiful female face. It is the embodiment of a “beautiful spirit” - “mfon”, which is primarily used for entertainment.

“Ekpo” masks show a contrastive aesthetic of beauty and ugliness. Artists use asymmetry and disproportion in their mask-making to recreate and comment upon the incongruities and contradictions of human existance, while symmetry and elegance convey ideas about morality and essential goodness.

Littérature comparée

Hahner-Herzog, Iris, Das Zweite Gesicht, Genf, München, New York 1997, ill. 49