The homeland of the Yoruba culture is in Western Coastal Africa, predominantly in what are today the countries of Nigeria and the Republic of Benin. The art of the Yoruba takes a wide variety of forms, including wood and metal sculptures, musical instruments, masks, headdresses, and other implements. Most of these artworks are active, functional objects, and they are used in traditional community activities for education, for religious worship, and to display wealth and social status, including at events such as funerals, the initiations of children into adulthood, and a variety of public festivals. Music is also an essential part of Yoruba cultural identity, and sculptural percussion instruments are played at a variety of events, from plays and masquerades for social entertainment to private and public celebrations.

 

A figural iron staff is a symbol of power that is displayed and carried by Yoruba dignitaries in public celebrations and masquerades, where they also serve as a symbol of high status. The ram on this staff may serve as an animal symbolic of royalty, or the ram could symbolize a sacrifice to Shango, the Yoruba god of thunder and lightning.

 

The Antelope Water Spirit headdress is one of the masks that makes an appearance in the Yoruba Agbo festival, an important festival of unity and reunion. The headdress is carved from a single piece of wood and represents a combination of different animals that would dwell around water. Incorporated into this mask are curved forms that represent elephant tusks and the long snout and ears of an antelope, and the surfaces of these features are painted with a variety of brightly colored geometric designs. In addition, two stylized figures of water birds stand one above the other on the forehead, and these likely represent the mystical powers of women, as well as supernatural creatures who fly between the earth and the spiritual realm. All together, the animals on this mask symbolize the strength and speed of Ashe, the Yoruba belief in life force and the power of positive thoughts and actions.

 

The Yoruba Ogboni Society functions as a council of elders to balance and check the power of Yoruba royal rulers. The Ogboni iron rattles are musical percussion instruments that may be worn around the ankles or held in the hands during dances and masquerades of the Ogboni Society.

The animal depicted on these rattles represents a chameleon, which is clear by the detailed figure that shows a curled-up tail and bulging eyes. The chameleon’s ability to change color symbolizes transformation in many African cultures; among the Yoruba, chameleons also serve as a symbol of powerful protection.

 

The Gelede headdress is a wooden sculpture worn on top of the head as part of a mask in the Gelede masquerade, an annual Yoruba festival held during the rainy season. Gelede masquerades honor the spiritual power of female ancestors as well as cultivating positive Ashe, the Yoruba belief in life force and the power of positive thoughts and actions. To dance a Gelede mask in a masquerade takes considerable skill; young men learn to balance the heavy headdress on their heads while imitating the graceful movements of women. Unlike most Gelede headdresses, this headdress does not have an additional superstructure.

 

A rhythm pounder is a musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a sculpture with a hollow cylindrical base, or the form of a tall, conical or cylindrical post. Women among the Yoruba join masquerade processions by carrying rhythm pounders; they swing these heavy instruments back and forth and pound them upon the ground to create a booming, drum-like sound. This rhythm pounder is topped with a sculpture of a human head with a crested headdress, which may represent the head of an ancestor.