Throughout the Lower (and Middle Benue) regions, masquerades are performed to incarnate ancestors, enforce social codes, support royal and chiefly authority, celebrate warriors, or to entertain.Among those on view in the Lower Benue section of the Central Nigeria Unmasked exhibition are videos of “tall ghost” masks, as well as an impressive elephant mask, crest masks worn on the top of the head, and three imposing helmet masks that are used in masquerades to honor royalty among the Igala peoples.
The circumstances of war, migration, and resettlement since the nineteenth century have meant that masks were and continue to be highly mobile. They could be taken as war booty, bought and sold, adopted with or without accompanying rituals, and altered to suit aesthetic or social requirements of a new community. Reinterpreted by new owners, their meanings changed in response to different contexts and needs.
As cultural boundary crossers, masquerade traditions also retain some traces of where they have been. Their names, origin stories, accompanying musical instrumentation, idiosyncratic dance steps, or special adornments are all clues to their historical path.
The following curriculum connections explore masks familiar to the peoples in the Lower Benue region.
