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The word "Mmanwu" in Igbo means "spirits of the dead". [1] It is the combination of two Igbo words "mmuo" or "maa" which means spirit and "onwu" which means death. [2] This refers to the purpose behind Mmanwu which is to create physical representations of spirits and ancestors through the adornment of the masks.
Masks have been used for a variety of purposes within Igbo culture in both historic and modern times. For specific segments of the Igbo population, some mask pairs have been traditionally interpreted as representing the duality of beauty and ugliness. The former being depicted as the maiden spirit and the latter as the elephant spirit. [4]
The performances showcase an ideal image of an Igbo maiden. This ideal is made up by the smallness of a young girl's features and the whiteness of her complexion, which is an indication that the mask is a spirit. This whiteness is created using a chalk substance used for ritually marking the body in both West Africa and the African Diaspora.
Ijele is the largest mask system ever to enter the history of the world masking tradition. It comprises two segments: the upper and the lower segments, divided at the centre by a big python. The upper segment is called Mkpu Ijele while the lower segment is called Akpakwuru Ijele or Ogbanibe and the centre is called Eke - Ogba (Python).
Female masks of the Punu people of Gabon, for example, have long curved eyelashes, almond-shaped eyes, thin chin, and traditional ornaments on their cheeks, as all these are considered good-looking traits. [17] Feminine masks of the Baga people have ornamental scars and breasts. In many cases, wearing masks that represent feminine beauty is ...
An Igbo man with facial marks of nobility known as Ichi [1]. Ichi was a form of facial ritual scarification worn by mainly men of the Igbo people of Nigeria.The scarification indicated that the wearer had passed through initial initiation into the aristocratic Nze na Ozo society, [2] thus marking the wearer as nobility.
Ukara ekpe cloths are woven in Abakaliki, and then they are designed by male Nsibidi artists in the Igbo-speaking towns of Abiriba, Arochukwu and Ohafia to be worn by members of the Ekpe society. Symbols including lovers, metal rods, trees, feathers, hands in friendship war and work, masks, moons, and stars are dyed onto ukara cloths.
The earth spirit, Ana, is 'Odinana', as is the sacred role of yam in the Igbo world, the right of inheritance, and the place of the elder. 'Odinana', as the immutable customary rites and traditions of the Igbo world, is enduring and cuts across indigenous Igbo people, while 'Omenana' is rather relative from one section of the Igbo to the other ...