Leonce Raphael Agbodjelou
Nigeria
Untitled (Egungun series), 2011
C-print
85x57cm
Edition of 8
Agbodjelou is known for his documentation of people participating in Egungun: a religious festival among the Yoruba of Nigeria whose main aim is to appease dead spirits.
“For me, the Egungun use public performance to tap into a narrative of localised Yoruba memories, personalised histories and ritual. They play a fundamental role in upholding the ethical values of the community… I think what interested me the most about these performances were the dynamic tensions that occur between this world and the next. My individual portraits of Egungun try to confront this “betwixt and between” quality, as ancestral visitors are temporarily made manifest to aid and guide the lineages to which they belong.” (Another Magazine)
“For me, the Egungun use public performance to tap into a narrative of localised Yoruba memories, personalised histories and ritual. They play a fundamental role in upholding the ethical values of the community… I think what interested me the most about these performances were the dynamic tensions that occur between this world and the next. My individual portraits of Egungun try to confront this “betwixt and between” quality, as ancestral visitors are temporarily made manifest to aid and guide the lineages to which they belong.” (Another Magazine)