IDNO

P.61275.GIJ

Description

A masquerade play in Lagos. The masqueraders are parading through the street and wearing white costumes which cover their faces and bodies, hats with rims, and carrying sticks (some of the sticks are painted with designs). A policeman in a Khaki uniform is holding a stick. In the background is a storied building with a sign which says N.J. Chacra. On the first floor the windows are open and the wooden shutters are to the sides and spectators are watching the play. [AF 10/3/2008]

"An Adamu Orisa Play
This is a photograph of Eyo masquerades during an Adamu orisha play in Lagos. The Adamu Orisha play is staged in commemoration of a particular event or to celebrate an important Lagos personage who has just died ... it is probably the Eyo festival staged to commemorate the death of the king of Lagos, Esugbayi Eleko, in 1932.
The masquerades that perform during the festival are also called Eyo. According to cultural belief, the Eyo festival is held to escort the soul of a departed Lagos King, Chief, or a personage of Lagos and to usher in a new king. The white-clad Eyo masquerades symbolize the spirits of the dead, and they are called by an epithet "agogoro Eyo", which literally means “tall Eyo"
Aside from the policeman, every other person in the photograph is barefooted, as sandals and shoes are prohibited during Eyo masquerade procession.
In the background is a storied building with a sign which says N.J. Chacra and on the first floor the windows are open and the wooden shutters are to the sides from which spectators are watching the procession. The Building is probably a shop owned by either a Lebanese, Syrian, or Indian merchant who dominate the textile and coral bead market in early to mid 20th century Lagos and their shops are usually situated on the ground floor of their residences. They live predominantly along Ereko and Victoria Streets stretching from Tinubu Square through Ereko to Idunmota the areas where Eyo procession often pass and the probable place where this particular photograph was made." [Information provided by Fadoju, Rethinking Relationships Research, JD 02/12/2020]

Place

W Africa; Nigeria; Lagos

Cultural Affliation

Yoruba

Named Person

Photographer

Jones, Gwilliam Iwan (known as G.I.)

Collector / Expedition

Date

post 1932

Collection Name

Jones Collection

Source

Jones, Gwilliam Iwan (known as G.I.)

Format

Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

P.61128.GIJ to P.61278.GIJ were kept in box 13, now numbered C294/.

Context: GI Jones photographed a masquerade in Lagos in the 1930s. He did not record what the name of the play was or what it was about. There are no written documents pertaining to this play. [AF 10/3/2008]

Context: This image was researched by Fadoju as part of the 'Rethinking Relationships Research Outputs - Nigeria', Horniman Museum, who provided the following information: "Object Name: Ilorin: A Masquerade (Eyo) play in Lagos
Alternate Name: An Adamu Orisa Play
This is a photograph of Eyo masquerades during an Adamu orisha play in Lagos. The Adamu Orisha play is staged in commemoration of a particular event or to celebrate an important Lagos personage who has just died.
According to the information provided in this collection that the photograph was made at a masquerade in the 1930s, it is probably the Eyo festival staged to commemorate the death of the king of Lagos, Esugbayi Eleko, in 1932.
The masquerades that perform during the festival are also called Eyo. According to cultural belief, the Eyo festival is held to escort the soul of a departed Lagos King, Chief, or a personage of Lagos and to usher in a new king. The white-clad Eyo masquerades symbolize the spirits of the dead, and they are called by an epithet "agogoro Eyo", which literally means “tall Eyo"
It can be seen from the photograph that aside the policeman, every other person in the photograph is barefooted, as sandals and shoes are prohibited during Eyo masquerade procession.
In the background is a storied building with a sign which says N.J. Chacra and on the first floor the windows are open and the wooden shutters are to the sides from which spectators are watching the procession. The Building is probably a shop owned by either a Lebanese, Syrian, or Indian merchant who dominate the textile and coral bead market in early to mid 20th century Lagos and their shops are usually situated on the ground floor of their residences. They live predominantly along Ereko and Victoria Streets stretching from Tinubu Square through Ereko to Idunmota the areas where Eyo procession often pass and the probable place where this particular photograph was made.
Lagos is divided into two major parts: the Lagos Island and the Lagos Mainland. Majority of Lagos indigenes are from Lagos Island, known as Isale Eko, and they are the one who celebrate and are the custodian of the Eyo.
During Eyo festival, the Eyo of each ruling house, robed from head to toe in white flowing cloth, comes out from the Iga (palace) and proceed to the Agbodo, shrine of the orisha Eyo. The white flowing costume of the Eyo consists of an ‘agbada’ (the top robe), and the ‘aropale’ (cloth wrapped around the waist). The Eyo is expected to be fully covered as no part of the masquerade’s body should be seen. The Eyo also puts on an ‘Akete’ a hat that bears the colours and shield of the Iga from which he emerges from. The number of Eyo in an Iga may be up to 50 to 100 or more members.
Only adult males may robe as Eyo; but sometimes, there may be a child Eyo in a group. The sons and daughters and wives, as well as friends and neighbours of the Iga follow the Eyo on a procession from one end of Lagos Island to the other.
Travel writer and culture reporter, Pelu Awofeso notes: A full week before the festival, (always a Sunday), the ‘senior’ eyo group, the Adimu (identified by a black, broad-brimmed hat), goes public with a staff. When this happens, it means the event will take place on the following Saturday. Each of the four other ‘important’ groups — Laba (Red), Oniko (yellow), Ologede (Green) and Agere (Purple) — take their turns in that order from Monday to Thursday.
On Eyo Festival days, the main highway on the island is closed to traffic.
It is however, a taboo to either wear the Eyo costume overnight or cross any body of water, such as the Lagoon, rivers, and so on.
The first recorded Eyo in modern Lagos was staged on February 20, 1854, to commemorate the death of Oba Akintoye." [Information provided by Fadoju, JD 02/12/2020]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Alicia Fentiman 11/3/2008]