Naked Big Fish
Steel, copper, wood, paint. 1998
Collection of the artist
|
Masquerade outfits begin with a white skin-tight tunic that covers the hands. The characteristic shape of a water spirit, whether male or female, or
partly both, is formed by a backward-projecting palm frame that makes a
tail-like organ. A stomach pad forms an organ known as igoli, often interpreted as a pregnancy.
Each masquerade has a distinctive headpiece which sometimes includes
a mask. The headpiece is the seat of
the masquerade's spirit, and invocations and offerings are directed to it. Okolokurukuru costumes incorporate imported goods such as mirrors and feather dusters -- used, paradoxically,
to produce marks of Kalabari identity. Through such materials, the masquerade evolves and changes each time
it is performed although the basic choreography remains the same.
|
|
<-- Back
Next -->
Entrance
Biography
Gallery
Kalabari
Masquerade
Links
© 1998 American Museum of Natural History.
|
