Odudua (mask)

This type of mask is worn during the Ododua ceremony, which protects the oba (king) and commemorates the founding of the Benin kingdom. Named for the creator deity the Benin kingdom shares with Yoruba religion, this mask danced an origin story about the Benin kingdom’s founding—and about the centrality of the royal house to that history. Benin has been ruled by the Eweka dynasty since at least the late 13th century.
Benin’s history is relatively unique in Africa for the depth of detail preserved in its oral and art histories, allowing scholars to investigate and speak of distinct periods and evolutions within that history with greater ease than in many other places on the continent. One of the through-lines of political history in the kingdom is the need for obas to frame, reenact, and often performatively embody that history, through art commissions and ritual performances, such as the Odudua ceremony. A mask such as this, then, worked on both levels, serving as it did to perform, and thus renew, the kingdom’s royal history.