Acali mask

Igbo people, Afikpo District, Nigeria

11.5 inches, wood, pigment and plant fiber

This is a face mask that is commonly used in okumkpa performances in the Igbo town of Afikpo and surrounding villages in southeastern Nigeria. Okumkpa is a theater tradition staged after the Dry Season Festival. Among the Afikpo Igbo, putting on a mask transforms the performer into a spirit (mma). Such masks are generally associated with a deity of the secret society called egbele, but the spirit of the deity is not perceived as residing in the mask but as remaining in the sacred bush--the mma is viewed as a manifestation of it. Ottenberg (1975: 18-19) informs us that the acali mask is generally worn by the youngest players in okumkpa performances and that it is one of the least common Afikpo masks.

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