Rabbit Mask from Nigeria
This is a rabbit spirit mask thought to be from the Mumuye culture of
Nigeria. The wooden mask has
elongated ears and carved triangular teeth
with evidence of red pigment on the mouth and teeth.
(Dimensions: H18.5” x
W9” x D10”)
In 1983, Walter Cronkite described Katherine Dunham as “a choreographer
with the eye of an
anthropologist and the soul of an artist.” At
Dunham’s Performing Arts Training Center in East St. Louis,
where
her many protégés learned the Dunham Dance technique, she
emphasized African arts as a
source of pride. Dunham displayed her African
and Caribbean art pieces in the Dunham Dynamic
Museum because she thought
the keys to survival and growth, especially for the young dancers of
East St. Louis, lay in their knowing their history.
