YORUBA, EGUNGUN COSTUME, Nigeria © John Urban

The Egungun association honored spirits of the ancestors and invoked their protection or aid. They were used at funerals and could transmit messages from ancestors to the living. The dancer could look out through the mesh and use rapid swirling movements to swing the cloth strips out horizontally. This round form with a tiny head on top indicates that the spirit depicted was almost too powerful to be depicted in human form.