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A headdress carved from wood and decorated with animal hair, bamboo, iron, and pigment.

A headdress carved from wood and decorated with animal hair, bamboo, iron, and pigment.

This is a type of headcrest mask found amongst the southern Ika, a western Igbo peoples residing on the left bank of the Niger River (Kwale region) and Isoko peoples residing further to the south. G.I. Jones photographed such masks in the 1930s. In performance they are embellished with feathers inserted into holes along the back of the figure and across the feline figure at the top of the mask. Jones documented their performance in the Ogonya Play in Ogume village, southern Ika.

This is a type of headcrest mask found amongst the southern Ika, a western Igbo peoples residing on the left bank of the Niger River (Kwale region) and Isoko peoples residing further to the south. G.I. Jones photographed such masks in the 1930s. In performance they are embellished with feathers inserted into holes along the back of the figure and across the feline figure at the top of the mask. Jones documented their performance in the Ogonya Play in Ogume village, southern Ika.

A mask made of wood, fiber, and pigment, portraying Mma ji.

A mask made of wood, fiber, and pigment, portraying Mma ji.

Igbo masks are made in many styles, and their distribution does not necessarily coincide with a matching set of beliefs concerning mask spirits. For example, the Okorosia masquerades of south-central Igboland share overall style features with the northern Igbo masks of the Nri-Awka area, such as the white-faced "Maiden-Spirit Mask" Agbogho mmuo but the belief in Okorosia water spirits is borrowed from the Niger Delta to the south where water spirits abound.

Igbo masks are made in many styles, and their distribution does not necessarily coincide with a matching set of beliefs concerning mask spirits. For example, the Okorosia masquerades of south-central Igboland share overall style features with the northern Igbo masks of the Nri-Awka area, such as the white-faced "Maiden-Spirit Mask" Agbogho mmuo but the belief in Okorosia water spirits is borrowed from the Niger Delta to the south where water spirits abound.

A headdress carved from wood and decorated with pigment.

A headdress carved from wood and decorated with pigment.

Small delicately carved face masks with pert noses and childlike facial features representing male and female spirits (elu) appear in village masquerades among Ogoni peoples living between the Niger Delta and Cross Rivers of southern Nigeria. Many of these face masks are cut across the mouth allowing the wearer to articulate the jaw as the spirit speaks through him. The open mouth reveals narrow teeth, usually made of cane.

Small delicately carved face masks with pert noses and childlike facial features representing male and female spirits (elu) appear in village masquerades among Ogoni peoples living between the Niger Delta and Cross Rivers of southern Nigeria. Many of these face masks are cut across the mouth allowing the wearer to articulate the jaw as the spirit speaks through him. The open mouth reveals narrow teeth, usually made of cane.

Summary: Things Fall Apart is the first of three novels in Chinua Achebe's critically acclaimed African Trilogy. It is a classic narrative about Africa's cataclysmic encounter with Europe as it establishes a colonial presence on the continent. Told through the fictional experiences of Okonkwo, a wealthy and fearless Igbo warrior of Umuofia in the late 1800s, Things Fall Apart explores one man's futile resistance to the devaluing of his Igbo traditions by British political andreligious forces and his despair as his community capitulates to the powerful new order.

Summary: Things Fall Apart is the first of three novels in Chinua Achebe's critically acclaimed African Trilogy. It is a classic narrative about Africa's cataclysmic encounter with Europe as it establishes a colonial presence on the continent. Told through the fictional experiences of Okonkwo, a wealthy and fearless Igbo warrior of Umuofia in the late 1800s, Things Fall Apart explores one man's futile resistance to the devaluing of his Igbo traditions by British political andreligious forces and his despair as his community capitulates to the powerful new order.