Gelede Mask

Gelede masquerades in southwestern Yorubaland honor “Our Mothers,” which includes elderly women, as well as female ancestors and deities. Danced by young men in colorful ensembles, Gelede masks are brightly painted and frequently renewed. The multicolored super structure on this mask depicts an elaborate head-tie. Gelede masquerades can include characters based on anyone in society, but this mask would have highlighted women’s immense powers. A Yoruba song documented by art historian Rowland Abiodun explains the high stakes of gaining the cooperation of “Our Mothers”: 

In anything we do,

If we do not guarantee the place of women,

That thing will not succeed.

[Ifá says,] “we should acknowledge the power of women,” 

[And that] “if we acknowledge their power,

The world will be peaceful.”