Egúngún

Henry John DrewalWhen African Arts/Arts d'afrique began in 1967, it published multiple perspectives—see its name—arts (plural) including “graphic and plastic arts, music and dance, cinema and theater, and literature” in two languages. Some articles were more “academic” and supposedly “objective,” while others were evocative, “subjective” works of art, whether the creative imagery of a visual artist, the evocative words of a poet, or a vibrant description of a theater, dance, or musical performance. In that era, academics were taught to write in the “third person,” separating ourselves from our narratives to give them an air of “distanced objectivity,” or a sense of “balanced neutrality.” We tried to minimize the fact that we are part of the stories we tell. Objectivity may be admirable, but it is, I believe, an unobtainable goal. We are subjective social beings, constantly shaping and being shaped by culture. Embedded in the complexities of culture, we attempt to be “rationally” objective when in reality we are constantly considering, selecting, and arguing points of view rhetorically, trying to think critically with reflexive, reasoned argument. The multiple perspectives of artists/makers as well as academics/critics in those early issues of African Arts/Arts d'afrique were challenging and refreshing in their diversity and affective power, reminding us of those Igbo words of wisdom, “you cannot stand in one place [if you want to] to experience or understand a masquerade.”This offering brings areturn tothat early African Arts/Arts d'afrique format—an essay by one of those culture-bearers-artists who were our teachers, masters, mentors, elders, companions, and guides (who we inadequately termed “informants”). They were the ones who lived and created those arts and cultures. We were the visitors/outsiders who came to witness, learn, appreciate, or embody (those who strove to be sensorially engaged participants, rather than passive observers) those artists and their arts. We then wrote and taught about these arts to mostly other outsiders. At the same time, most of us are not strictly “outsiders” or “insiders”—we are (as Moyo Okediji reminds us) “inbetweeners”—constantly moving between and among various cultural worlds on a daily basis, whether in Africa or elsewhere on this planet. A Yorùbá proverb (taught to me by Rowland Abiodun) comments on this reality: “the stranger/ visitor sees with the nose”—that is, we confuse or misunderstand what we are experiencing (when trying to “make sense” with the wrong sense!), and also, that it takes all our senses to make sense of a world's countless cultures and artistic expressions (Drewal 2020). Those culture-bearers (like Bode's father) were the ones who taught us to see with our eyes, smell with our nose, touch with our hands, taste with our tongue, listen carefully and hear with our ears, move with our bodies, and more. As our “primary sources,” they embodied the knowledge and wisdom we sought. We were, and continue to be, lifelong students of African and African Diaspora arts, not “experts” (Drewal 2011, 1978a, 1978b).This is how worlds and persons come together. Just as Nigeria and Yorùbá culture transformed me and my life, it was my published photo that changed Bode Oje's. It was his father (Pa David Adeleke Akanbi Oje, a.k.a. Ogogo) who was one of my teachers about things Ogboni, the judiciary society of elder women and men who, as “wise ones” (ologboni) are tasked with matters of law, justice, and social order in the community. Bode Oje's father was also a master drummer. The photo I took of him in the Ogboni lodge in Ibeşe, Nigeria in 1977 traveled to the Kenneth Dike Library at the University of Ibadan, to be seen by his son Bode in 2010 and copied onto his phone and later, computer. Then, when scrolling photos several years later, he decided to find a White man called Iṣòlá. From that reconnection has come an on-going dialogue and this marvelous essay about a childhood experience of the rivalries and competitions between multisensory masters of performance—drummers and Egúngún dancers.Bode OjeIt all started that fateful day in 2010 at the University of Ibadan. I had gone to the Kenneth Dike Library to prepare for my exams. Securing an empty seat and desk, I noticed the previous user of the space had left some books on the table and I decided to flip through. Voilà! The picture that greeted my sight was unbelievable. Before going into details about the picture, let me say this.I was not born in the 1970s when he came to do his research in the Ẹgbádò area (now Yewa) of the Yorùbá countryside. However, I was inundated, more than a decade later, with stories of how a White man had come to work with my father and the description of his activities fit a researcher. I thought his area of research interest was African religion, not arts. His name was not given then, only that he was rechristened Iṣòlá and his wife was given the name Aduké by Yorùbá people. My father, a drummer, has a picture of himself behind a big drum to show us that it was the White man that took the picture. My mum confirmed the story and added that there was a day she cooked ẹ̀gúsỉ soup for the White man's wife to eat—she tasted it and complained it was too peppery. Trust Yorùbá cuisine.Back to the picture: what I saw in the book is a row of my forebears sitting in their lodge at Ibese, my home town. In front of them sits a foaming gourd of palm-wine. I could still recognize two or three people among the elders sitting in their white robes. My eyes went straight to the caption. The photographer who took this picture is given as H.J. Drewal and the photo dated 1977. I took a picture of the page and kept it on my computer for a couple of years before I decided to track him down. This was how I connected with Prof. Henry J. Drewal, the White man my parent had told me much about.Egúngún festival was one of the most colorful traditional festivals we used to have when we were young. On the day a popular family masquerader was to come out and dance, trust that my primary school would record a low turnout of pupils. All roads led to the family house of the masquerader.“Where is Semiu and Haruna Orisabiyi?” our teacher would ask, though he already knew the answer.“Absent sir,” the class would thunder back at him. Both teacher and pupils understood what our absence meant. Our friends who were present would relay what transpired in class to us, the absentees, later in the day.Away from the classroom, somewhere in a remote corner of the town, many of us who were absent from the school would be relishing àkàrà elépo (mashed-bean lumps fried in red oil). Jimoh Wọnran, Biodun Jògbò, and a host of other absentees would be about to transform into ara ọ̀run, “beings from beyond.” They were all from the families of masqueraders and their families took pride in their kids taking up after them very early in life. Egúngún masquerade is a practice based on the belief system of reincarnation. Yorùbá believe that children born into a family are ancestors returning through birth, and Egúngún masquerade is the metaphorical demonstration of this return. That is why Egúngún are called ará òrun kìn-n-kin, “sojourners from beyond.” Ọ̀run, as the abode of Egúngún, and ayé, as the place they periodically visit, is at the core of Yoru》á metaphysics1—which I do not want to veer off into, as it may spin this recollection of my childhood experience into something different.Away from the classroom, I would be by my father's side with my oversized gúdúgúdú, a drum shaped like truncated cone with the wider surface up. It has three notes, depending on where you hit on the circumference of its gum-laced surface. Little wonder it is called the father of all drums. My mouth would be glossy with oil from “dead” àkàrà. At least that compensated for the knocks I received in the head throughout the day for missing the rhythm of the beat.I would feel particularly uneasy when the masqueraders passed by our school. Students spotted me easily in my dàúńíkí dress and the gúdúgúdú drum, which was usually too heavy for my poor frame. Other culprit absentees were not distinguishable, as they by now had transformed into “heavenly visitors.”Of all the masqueraders, there was one I love most: Arówóṣojú, the masquerade that belongs to Chief Apènà of ìbèṣè. The man was a typical example of African alpha male, stout and intimidatingly handsome. Even as young as I was, his dark, shining mustache made a lasting impression whenever he passed by. His Egúngún was a lábala type, also called pààká (Fig. 1). It has a lot of colorful cloth flaps, intricately arranged, and the style of drumming it relishes most is called pabíẹkùn. The word itself seems to be a contraction of “pa itú bí ẹkùn” (“dazzle [us] like a leopard”). The drumming goes:Another style of drumming common during the masquerade festival is apoọ́nrán. Far from what you might think, apoọ́nrán is one of the many styles of dùndún drumbeats only a master drummer can perform and only a master dancer among masqueraders can dance to. The dance is so technical that it is used to determine the best dancer “capable of dancing for the White man” among masqueraders. To “dance for the White man” seems to be a selective criterion rather than a lifetime achievement. The logic seems to be that “you have to be worthy of dancing for the White man (Oyinbo) before we can accept that you know how to dance or before we accept you as master of dance.” For it seems White men prefer dancing masqueraders to trickster masqueraders, or cane fighting masqueraders. In fact, in 1825 Hugh Clapperton described with great admiration and attention to detail the Egúngún show held in his honor at Ọyoẹ́-ileń the capital of the Ọyoẹ́ empire, and likened it to a pantomime show.2 It is probably from numerous encounters with White men like this that the name “Ajófóyìnbó” came to be. It means “he who dances for the White men.”Talking of dancing masqueraders, lore has it that there were two masters of dance among masqueraders in ancient times, namely, Lébe and Ẹyẹ́bà. The competition between the two was fierce, according to tradition, and it seemed to have ended in a draw. However, to us youth of modern time, Ajófóyìnbó was the masquerader regarded as master of dance. No rival. Any masquerader that can dance apọ́nrán is either a Ajófóyìnbó masquerader or whoever is inside it is of the Ajófóyìnbó masquerade family. No wonder there was a masquerade called Ajófóyìnbó in almost all the towns I have been to with my dad as a drummer troupe. Well, to the majority of the children of that time, a trick-performing masquerader is the best masquerader, then a dancing masquerader, and Ajófóyìnbó combines all these capabilities.Ajófóyìnbó belongs to a category of trick-performing masquerader popularly referred to as Egúngún onídán (Fig. 2). They are the cone-shaped, belly-bulging masqueraders with circular costumes and ventilation nets3 at the center. This type of masquerader combines the attributes of at least two masqueraders, Egúngún akéwì or tòm̀bòlò, with his own essence. (I will explain this in the next category.) They are easily recognized because of their “pregnant” appearance and are known for their dress-changing stunt and turning into different things in mock transformation.Egúngún akéẁi are chanting masqueraders, recognizable by the way they and their by their the way their by their (Fig. They of in the they are the of the Yorùbá people. of can make you off into the of ancestors and what they while on the trick-performing masquerader is a chanting masquerader that that he is with a circular most of his which he would in and out several while of that Egúngún akéwì is called In some Yorùbá it is called or It may be to know the of this word to the to where it among the different Yorùbá For we by the which it the word seems to be a of which is a Yorùbá word a or a like you a to give its so can you a man to with some or for However, we it to then it would to be the of from among like all the chanting masquerader be to and from the of the family of his he a the man to be or the of the Egúngún akéẁi may in this may give the Egúngún a or to his by or from or to the family of of that the master among them will into the of to the and of his It could also the and how his from one place to and with other or The Egúngún could like father would his head in the masquerader had his to his he had he would not to and him to where he or it only when the masquerader him at it was somewhere he would not to him in would his in the front of his dress and give him At a made and of my who not to be told what to do on an The of my father was of a for type of Egúngún that with Egúngún akéẁi is (Fig. are the masqueraders that the masquerade in our part of They are the to out of or the in a called is returning from the a for their also called Egúngún is and the behind him for about is the masquerade with the of cloth and this is used as (Fig. The when is called and is by a Egúngún they to where he to how it is for admiration and we have Egúngún (Fig. This is the Egúngún that in different and of their are with only one to in the other is and in two to the The between Egúngún and Egúngún is in the Egúngún made for the two in the of the Egúngún not make His inside the and his and the of his while Egúngún are to type of Egúngún I would like to as I them is (Fig. are usually the masquerade of the They have a and their is the that most trick-performing Egúngún transform into, for Egúngún that all these is that their and are with mostly red and but also with other masquerade festival is a show of and Egúngún onídán is the masquerader that will the The Egúngún onídán would from house to house for the while others him and give him the would dance and spin and the circular on him inside out part of his That is the stunt that him stand at the which is usually a or space for he would a like a with and to his forebears and the The would him as he to transform into of the of Egúngún, Egúngún or Egúngún he may to transform into a of that his For he could transform into a mock White and with White could be seen or going out with his wife (Fig. could also transform into a (Fig. (Fig. or a wife with all the and of a (Fig. are called It is to that these are not the they are with the of the For the may have the head of a with its and made (Fig. could from behind the and this usually which to the of the Egúngún Egúngún onídán has his own and the mock have made their into the the show to to a The elders would the Egúngún onídán had transformed into and head back to the house of the family masquerader the of the of their family in a show by is the for a among the young the part that from men and men from the elders have an type of masquerade called or would make his of different and (Fig. men to in cane fighting would also come their of cane as a would his of would in or their through or other This is what will determine a youth is and or a and a In I can now see why one of my elder friends a and truncated own when she by him at in at the the behind the of my father and other I would be the that was about to I to this from and to be an Other kids of my or would have to or been home by their As we from being by these masqueraders and though only the drummer among us could into the of the cane and would not be with It is an or that masqueraders not or at they that is the of the That is, “the show a masquerader to a drummer with The drummer would the with his drum and the big would with they are At this there is or down. Even those who are by not the The drummer would the and the big would to their would be the way the drum would give the from the mouth of the and like a it would the on with the of The and of as they on and in a of would the of the As the to know who can the the drummer would the of the drum usually the on a of No one to be seen as the that the gourd to be seen as which the of cane that have not into the of the would be seen by As some would off the and As there would be and takes us to the and their in the are the next to at a masquerade on family tradition, and masqueraders dance to different in among (Fig. dùndún and drums. At two different of are to for the masquerader, taking its to perform for their and dùndún are the most They the masquerader to a dance and him or at the show for of of these is almost the We have the drum, called It could be or It is the only drum that in the We also have a called or and a couple of called As a of about years I to the category of called Our is the for elders or the best drummer among us, he is not that are at masquerade They want to show the that a masquerader is not as at dancing as he to be. the drummer the at him The drummer the with his his The The with is the master drummer. has to his among the masqueraders and the 1). it is left for the masquerader to the to his To back would be to his in front of a he into the of dancing the most of all dùndún drum of all takes off on his he is not from the The is to a and to the dance he dances the drummer, well he not be too from the drummer to hear the like a That is, he be the of the As Yorùbá would That is, masquerader that he is not at dancing not from the I make the master drummer of my me in of from who will be my master dancer from the same The dancer who could the with a That would be a of all to masters in their of is at this as to his dùndún drum from the front as The master drummer has to his drum from the other at the back where he cannot see and the circumference of his I only drum perform that what the master dancer have up his for us this His of what the drum is is His of when to the or is For the that is when the drummer and the dancer the of the drummer has in in the of the the dancer out when the will be so he can move his in is of dancer will make a of himself he the day the of a masquerader in my it was not The masquerader was a type because there was a his for his to him from a type, we this masquerade for it was a masquerade and its drummer kept on at the to of the air with also in the of to and of the cane a of on their Well, like their forebears used to drummer kept the masquerader and the to do something for the to head have by from the him. The next we saw was that he had onto the of a house and started the dance from the It was for us The master dancer had the master drummer. The was about to on the drummer with of the masquerader or had was that his masquerader had the of a drummer, but he was at the same of what was up the of this drummer and where it could was The drummer almost a on the elders us young ones to a with their the two in what they knew how to do up at the masquerader on of the house as the a of him. from a corner of his one is a he have to For one has took his to this and the of called that out of the mouth of “the like on that day could be likened to when a into a of and of from we the to the masquerader head had already to the Then, the masquerader took a wrong an attempt to his he from the and on the (Fig. Those to him have as his for they him when they saw that he could not move They him into the We the that a took to the show that the master drummer and the master dancer of that day are now but what that day is the of in Egúngún masquerade

Art · Cognitive psychology · Dance · Reminiscence · Visual arts · Historical Art and Architecture Studies · Historical Studies of Medieval Iberia · Historical Studies on Spain · Psychology

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