The Helmet Mask (Gelede) in the Allen’s collection is part of a larger ensemble with which men in southern Nigeria embody and reenact the divine life-creating force of “our mothers,” women who having passed their reproductive years are the source of both humans and gods in Yorùbá cosmology. Visiting assistant professor Fernanda Villarroel Lamoza will discuss how Gelede festivals provide a conceptual framework to engage with our mothers as an abstract principle. In doing so, she will outline an in-depth analysis of the intricate arrangement of snakes, birds, and knives layered in tiers in this mask, as a form of coiffure framing the serene facial features distinctive of Gelede.
