EGUNGUN

ON EGUNGUN

Matter exists both where it is extant and where extinct. Presence and absence are marks of precience. Visibility is the monitor of invisibility, as death is the motor of life. Synonyms articulate and inundate their antonyms, The Egungun culture parades men in the choreography of apparels, thereby translating Masque-Raiding as metaphysically engaged in the gynodermic canvas. I conjure Masque-Raiders, not masqueraders with my Egungun Ilubirin or Gynodermic Canvases.

Moyo Okediji in personal communication

29/04/08

University of Texas Libraries News

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Fine Arts Library Hosts Exhibition of West African Cultural Artifacts

AUSTIN, Texas – A new exhibition of cultural artifacts from West Africa will be displayed at the Fine Arts Library at The University of Texas at Austin from Dec. 5 through March 5, 2009.

"Egungun: Diaspora Recycling" features the art of the Yoruba cultures—diasporic ethnic groups whose work reflects principles of recycling and regeneration of both spiritual and material elements.

"Egungun" refers to the Yoruba embodiment of a green aesthetic of healing, wherein the individual renews the body and spirit through the use of art.

Egungun concepts of recycling and regeneration come from their principles of deathlessness, or "aiku," which is part of an aesthetics or wealth and beauty.

With the use of textiles, sculptures, poetry, music and choreography, the Yoruba create installations and performances that propagate ideas of defiance of death, perpetual continuity, immortal regeneration and communal rejuvenation.

"Egungun: Diaspora Recycling" features indigenous costumes from the collections of Bobbi and Tim Hamill of the Hamill Gallery of African Art in Boston juxtaposed with modernist, diasporic reinterpretations of the Egungun concept by two contemporary artists, Wole Lagunju and Moyo Okediji.

From http://www.lib.utexas.edu/about/news/egungun.html

The Yoruba peoples are diasporic ethnic groups that inhabit several countries in Africa,
Europe, South America, and North America. Through the use of art forms, especially the
performance of Egungun masking, they celebrate concepts of regeneration and recycling of
spiritual and material elements. These concepts of recycling and regeneration come from
their principles of deathlessness, or aiku, which is part of an aesthetics or wealth and
beauty. With the use of textiles, sculptures, poetry, music, and choreography, they create
installations and performances that propagate ideas of defying death, perpetual continuity,
immortal regeneration, and communal rejuvenation. Egungun is their indigenous embodiment
of a green aesthetic of healing, where the individual renews the body and the spirit,
with the use of art.

The installation “Egungun: Diaspora Recycling,” is an art exposition of transformation and
border crossings. The exhibition shows the art of Egungun as practiced indigenously in
Yoruba cultures. It also demonstrates the renewal of indigenous Egungun ideas by two
contemporary artists collaborating to reinterpret the concepts of masking, regeneration, and
immortality, using modernist and diasporic strategies. The works of the collaborating artists,
Wole Lagunju and Moyo Okediji, are juxtaposed with indigenous Egungun costumes
from the collections of Bobbi and Tim Hamill of the Hamill Gallery of African Art, Boston.

From http://www.lib.utexas.edu/fal/egungun.pdf