1992

Epa Masking and Àgéré Stilt Festival

in Òrà Àyòká, Òmù-Àrán, Yoruba Nation, Oduduwa Republic, Kwara State, Nigeria

Terra Art

Epa Masking and Àgéré Stilt Festival is a biennial cultural event that takes place in Òrà Àyòká Compound in Òmù-Àrán the headquarter of Ìgbómìnà land in the Yorùbá Nation / Odùduwà Republic, Kwara State of Nigeria.

This painting composition, Epa Masking and Àngéré Stilt Festival, portrays the performances that take place at a biennial cultural celebration and traditional community activities. The head and highest ranking of the fleet of the head masks is Olómoyéye showing at the right-hand side of the canvas. Olómoyéye or Olómo Yéye (Olómo Púpò) means a person with many children. And as you can see, there is a lineup of children with different types of occupations including a hunter, a drummer and a motherhood to mention but a few. This head mask with all the children is carved from a single piece of wood log. The mask carrier is holding in his right hand a Horse Tail that has white furs, and holding a decorated fan in his left hand.

To the far left of the canvas is a head mask called Àgbò, meaning Ram. The Àgbò head mask often entertain the spectators at the festival by attempting to hit them with the horn of the Àgbò mask while the spectators move away to dodge the head bout.

At the center of the canvas are two Àgéré Stilt Performers who are propped up on poles made from strong but light wood which sometimes includes raffia palm frond stalks.

This art piece is in the permanent collection of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) (formerly the University of Ife) in Nigeria, which houses the renowned Ife Art School and its influential Department of Fine and Applied Arts which is renowned for developing conceptual frameworks rooted in Yoruba history and aesthetics like Onaism that is based on the fusion of the designs, ornamentation and motifs found in traditional Yoruba carvings and textiles with modern art pieces such as drawings and paintings.