Minneapolis Institute of Art

Female Impersonator's Costume

Igbo artist

Date

20th century

Medium

Cotton, jute, wool, rayon, applique, and embroidery

Culture

Igbo

Department

Arts of Global Africa

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

The Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria are known for their spectacular art forms, notably their masquerades. While museum often show masks without the matching dress, here we have a costume lacking the wooden mask with an elaborate hairstyle. During a festival called The Fame of Maidens, male dancers would embody the ideals of youthful feminine beauty through their masks, costumes, and movements. The costume has woven breasts and a naval attached to it. The applique designs in vivid colors refer to female body ornamentation, traditionally a combination of scarification and body paint. Beauty, for the Igbo, refers to physical and moral characteristics, and the dead maidens who are honored during the festival personify both. Africa

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