Cultural Archives
Oganochi Mgbedike Masquerader
A photograph depicting a close up portrait of an Oganochi mgbedike masquerader standing and facing the camera. The masquerader wears a full length cloth costume featuring light and dark striped ruffles on the body, upper arms, and legs, with porcupine …
Ajofia Nnewi Masquerade Mask
A photograph depicting a close-up of a character in the Ajofia Nnewi (evil forest) masquerade. The mask is painted black with a bulbous forehead and cheeks, and tear-shaped eyeslits highlighted with light pigment. The headpiece features a polished, high-gloss facial …
Horned Face Mask from Nri Awka
A photograph depicting a wooden face mask from the Nri Awka region, combining human and animal features. The mask is painted white with arched black brows, slit eyes, and an open mouth showing teeth outlined in black. Two pointed horns, …
Mau Ghost Face Mask
A photograph depicting a Mau (ghost) face mask painted white with black pigment. The mask features slit eyes, an elongated nose, and a mouth with teeth, accompanied by ear projections. The forehead and under-eye regions are decorated with carved and …
Entrance to an Igbo Farmer's House near Nnewi
A photograph depicting the entrance to a compound of an Igbo farmer's house near Nnewi. The structure features a thick-set wall constructed from earthen material, characterized by extensive high-relief geometric and organic patterns. The ornamentation includes concentric circles, scalloped motifs, …
Portrait of a Male Elder with Staff
A photograph depicting a half-length portrait of an elderly Igbo man. The subject is wearing a textured, ribbed knit beanie and an unfastened, heavy-weight jacket with a discernible weave. He holds a light-colored, smooth-textured wooden staff vertically in his right …
Painted Courthouse Mural at Nri
A photograph depicting a monochromatic mural painted on a dark, textured exterior wall of a courthouse in Nri, Onitsha Province. The mural is divided into two primary zones: a left-hand section featuring architectural motifs like a window frame alongside concentric …
Ogbugulu Mau Mask
A photograph depicting a side view of an Ogbugulu Mau helmet mask modelled by a male subject. The face of the mask is painted white with darker pigments accentuating the eyebrows, eyes, mouth, hair, and crested structure. The eyes are …
Painted Courthouse at Nri
A black-and-white photograph from 1938 depicting a single-story open-sided courthouse structure in Nri, Onitsha Province. The building features a corrugated metal hipped roof supported by vertical pillars and low-set perimeter panels serving as canvases for high-contrast, stylized murals. These murals …
Ikem Masquerade Play in Umuahia
A black-and-white photograph depicting an Ikem masquerade play. The central figure is a masquerader wearing an Anang carved female face mask featuring naturalistic human features, dark eyebrows, a fine nose, and marks on the cheeks, topped with an elaborate black …
Obugulu Mau Masquerade: Egu Agu
A photograph depicting a close-up portrait of a masquerader known as Egu Agu (Money Finish) during an Obugulu Mau (Ghost) masquerade. The figure wears a helmet mask with a complex superstructure decorated with cloth, tassels, and fibrous material. The mask …
Painted Courthouse Mural at Nri
A photograph depicting a monochromatic mural on a flat, textured surface, located at a courthouse in Nri, Onitsha Province. The composition features six stylized human figures and a vessel, arranged in a linear progression from left to right. The figures …