Headdress (Egungun or Gelede)

YorubaWW-1901-136565

1901·Wood and pigment·20.7 × 15.9 × 20.7 cm (8 1/8 × 6 1/4 × 8 1/8 in.)

<p>This helmet imitates a hairstyle popular among Yoruba girls and young women, <em>agogo</em>, defined by tight braids along the sides of the head and a rising symmetrical crest at the center. Male and female priests occasionally wear the hairstyle, and it has also been incorporated into headdresses such as this one, for performances celebrating a specific orisa (deity), such as Sango, associated with thunderstorms and social justice, or during festivals centered around female elders, Gelede, or the ancestors, Egungun.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1901
Medium: Wood and pigment
Dimensions: 20.7 × 15.9 × 20.7 cm (8 1/8 × 6 1/4 × 8 1/8 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Yoruba

Artist

Yoruba

Textile

Yoruba is an Atlantic–Congo language that is spoken in West Africa, primarily in South West Nigeria, Benin, and parts of Togo. It is spoken by the Yoruba people. Yoruba speakers number roughly 50 million, including around 2 million second-language or L2 speakers. As a pluricentric language, it is primarily spoken in a dialectal area spanning Nigeria, Benin, and Togo with smaller migrated communities in Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Gambia.

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