Agbegijo: The Playful Side of Egungun
Prof. Wole Soyinka shares the grotesque and satirical aspects of Yorùbá masquerades
AgbegijoBook Buzz Foundation
Agbegijo
"We just know that it is an Egungun mask. It could have come from any part of the Yorùbá area. Everybody knows about the masquerade—the Egungun.
The Playful Side of Egungun
The side of the Egungun which is stressed very often is the solemn side. They are supposed to be representations of the ancestral world but many people don’t know about the playful side of Egungun called the agbégijó.
For instance, or the tombolo, which is a children’s masquerade, and in which all kinds of grotesqueness are depicted. This is one of my favourites for one simple reason: it’s rude. I think it’s making a rude commentary.
And so any time I feel disgusted with the country, I look at it and I do that to Nigeria. That’s my mask for the negative, annoying side of society. This is the satirical aspect of the Egungun masks. And this is one of the reasons I like it."
