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Upper View
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Lower View
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This work of art is an Okwomma
mask from the Igbo region in Awka,
Nigeria. Okwomma means He has the knife, referring to the large
machete carried during performance. It is used during the funeral ceremonies of respected
older men. In this region masks are used to represent attributes of beings from the
spirit worlde. This particular mask is a part of a larger costume that is used to
disguise the masquerader and allow him to no longer be a performer but the masked spirit
itself. The Okwomma mask, like the better known Mgbedike masks are
used to evoke fear and awe in the audience and their customary dance is believed to allow
the deceased to have a safe passage into the spirit world. The Okwomma is
also known to appear during seasonal village festivals.
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The saying "You
can't always judge a book by its cover" applied when I first began to research
meaning and context of this powerful mask. I did not know what to expect when I
first started the discovery process. The one thing that I did interpret correctly
was that this mask is one that should be feared.
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| Visona, Monica et al. A History of Art in
Africa. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2001. |
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