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. It does not appear to have been used.

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