https://emuseum.cornell.edu/internal/media/dispatcher/78616/fullEgúngún regalia (paka Egúngún)ca. 1940–70[]Fabric, leather, wood, paper, and wireColorful fabric strips; some appliqued, on wood frame. The Yoruba hold annual or biennial celebrations called Odun Egungun to honor the ancestors, deceased individuals who nonetheless play a role in everyday Yoruba life. The Egungun costume form varies, but most cover the performer with layers of brightly colored fabric panels. Red fabric figures prominently in traditional Egungun masquerades. In this context, red represents the goddess Oya, the patron of Egungun. The brilliant color is believed to ward off disease, terrorize witches, and even revive the dead as Egungun. Fabric panels do not represent power, but embody the spiritual power; with sawtooth borders, they convey salvation. The Egungun masquerader twirls in space, maximizing and minimizing his height, lifting and flapping the panels in a multicolored whirlwind. Suggested reading: Robert Farris Thompson, African Art in Motion: Icon and Act. Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1974. com.gallerysystems.emuseum.core.entities.Classification@6bhttps://emuseum.cornell.edu/objects/37940/rdf