You may have seen this egúngún masquerade dance costume several years ago when it was exhibited in Disguise: Masks and Global African Art (2016) and Diverse Works: Director’s Choice, 1997-2015 (2015), or even in Passages: Photographs in Africa by Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher (2000). During these earlier exhibitions the costume was simply draped onto a support with its flaps hanging down lifelessly.
For our current exhibition One: Egúngún, the costume mount received a dramatic makeover giving the viewer a suggestion of the costume’s dynamism. Consulting with Sills Family Consulting Curator, Kristen Windmuller-Luna, and working with our mount maker Mike Mandina, we modified the mount to create
a more compelling and lively display of the work to reflect how the costume was originally used.
Suggestion of body movement was obtained by cutting and angling the internal Ethafoam® support. Ethafoam® is an easily carved archival polyethylene foam regularly used in museums. Additionally, enhancing and angling the internal head form helped to create the illusion of a moving figure beneath the costume. Supports comprised of a soldered brass armature covered in Fosshape were used to lift the fabric flaps and give the effect of movement.
Fosshape is a non-woven synthetic fabric that can be heated and manipulated into a desired form. The flap supports at the bottom of the costume were secured by inserting the brass frame into Ethafoam planks underneath the objects, while those at the top were secured in place using magnets.
The use of magnets and Fosshape in conservation and mounting of artworks is relatively new and not available when the costume was acquired in 1998. Utilizing these new technical innovations allowed us to greatly enhance the presentation of this object.
