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Oje Ogwu ceremony for Ezi Akane compound, Ukpa Village, Afikpo Village-Group, Nigeria

African Art Museum

Oje Ogwu ceremony for Ezi Akane compound, Ukpa Village, Afikpo Village-Group, Nigeria
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
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Object Details

sova.eepa.2000-007_ref1014
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/xo7225e09b6-5821-4b86-8a3e-4218f56873ad
Local Numbers
290/1959-1960 EEPA 2000-070506
General
Title source: Dr. Simon Ottenberg, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
Photographer
Ottenberg, Simon
Collection Photographer
Ottenberg, Simon
Place
Africa
Nigeria
Topic
Rites and ceremonies -- Africa
Clothing and dress -- Africa
Cultural landscapes
Masquerades
Headdresses -- headgear -- Africa
Masks
Photographer
Ottenberg, Simon
Culture
Igbo (African people)
See more items in
Simon Ottenberg photographs
Extent
1 Slide (col.)
Date
1959-1960
Custodial History
Donated by Simon Ottenberg, 2000.
Archival Repository
Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
Identifier
EEPA.2000-007, Item EEPA 2000-007-0506
Type
Archival materials
Slides
Color slides
Collection Rights
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Bibliography
Masked rituals of Afikpo, the context of an African art; Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1975. [published in connection with an exhibition shown at the Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, May 24-June 21, 1975].
Genre/Form
Color slides
Scope and Contents
This photograph was taken by Dr. Simon Ottenberg at the Oje Ogwu ceremony presented on the eke day of 3 January 1960 in the main common of Ukpa Village. Dr. Ottenberg was conducting field research at Afikpo village-group, southeastern Nigeria, from September 1959 to December 1960.
Original caption reads, "Oje Ogwu ceremony at Ukpa Village. Note the different styles of dresses. String netted masks. Musicians wearing the same, some with dry leaves, some with fresh ones, some with feathers, some without. Some use porcupine quills. Ebi is what dress called if wear porcupine quills, okpu ebuba (hat-feather) is what call other musicians with feathers in hats." [Ottenberg field research notes, September 1959-December 1960, Part I].
"Oje Ogwu is a play performed in only a few common villages each year. It is a net-masked dance of about thirty players accompanied by musicians also wearing net face coverings. Most of the Ezi Akane secret society members from the age group of boys and young men took part in the actual rehearsals and performances. The Oje Ogwu dance is simpler than the Okumkpa play or the Njenji masked parade. It takes a short period of time to perform and is based on only a few contrastive elements. There are the three types of costumes, each of which has special movements and activities associated with it. The Oje Ogwu is not particularly associated with a specific festival, but rather with a season." [ Ottenberg, 1975: Masked rituals of Afikpo, the context of an African art; Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1975].
The photograph depicts akopia eka (knock-hand) musicians as well as ebulu players, entering the village common. The musicians all wore a dark brown net mask with black lines on it, and a variety of head coverings. Some had porcupine quill hats (ebi) and some headpieces of feathers, called okpu ebuba (hat-feather). Most of them played the single-piece iron gong, egele; a few had the wooden ekwe gong, and several others just hit two sticks together.
Collection Restrictions
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Other Archival Materials
Simon Ottenberg Papers are located at the National Anthropological Archives, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.
EEPA.2000-007_ref1014
Large EAD
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/xo7225e09b6-5821-4b86-8a3e-4218f56873ad
EEPA.2000-007
EEPA
Record ID
ebl-1536864686513-1536864686794-0

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