Fagbite Asamu, Falola Edun
Date:
Mid-20th Century
Medium:
Wood, paint
Size:
Depth: 11 1/8″
Width: 16 3/8″
Height: 20 9/16″

Imagine this mask performing next to another just like it, the dancers’ ankle bells chiming in unison, as a crowd of onlookers enjoys the four wrestlers whirling above, locked in a seeming embrace. The Gẹlẹdẹ masquerade, in which masks like this one performed, is a celebration of Iya Nla, the Great Mother, but it honors all women and their capacity to give life. Strong young men dance in freshly painted pairs of masks like this one and encourage women to use their powers for the good of the community. Wrestlers are a particularly common motif, as the Gẹlẹdẹ masquerade dramatizes the struggle to do good.

Gift of Alan and Janet Wurtzburger BMA 1954.32