Symbolism in Urhobo Masks and Mask Performances

Abstract

In almost every part of the world, masked performance events continue to chronicle happenings in human society and reflect perceptions of the environment. Among the Urhobo people of Nigeria, mask corpuses and mask performance traditions exist whose metaphoric and iconic attributes seem to have been neglected in previous studies. Consequently, the masks and performance events have been visible but not audible. A research need, therefore, remained for a deeper appreciation of the symbolism inherent in the mask forms and performance structures. In this article, the mask morphologies and performance structures are subjected to semiotic examination. It is observed that the masks and performance structures are purveyors of Urhobo normative and cosmic notions, and that they are, indeed, icons in motion.