Gẹlẹdẹ - Yoruba satirical masquerade

2001

A recurring Yoruba masked performance of Benin, Nigeria and Togo honouring the primordial mother and elderly women, whose performances 'convey an oral heritage that blends epic and lyric verses, which employ a good deal of irony and mockery, supported by satirical masks'. The Efe component is the vehicle of licensed social criticism, voicing things otherwise socially unacceptable. Proclaimed a UNESCO Masterpiece in 2001 and inscribed on the Representative List in 2008; the year is the UNESCO proclamation, as no earlier dated attestation was verifiable.