The Aesthetics of Ugliness in Ibibio Dramatic Arts

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Periodical article

Title:	The Aesthetics of Ugliness in Ibibio Dramatic Arts
Author:	Ebong, Inih A.
Year:	1995
Periodical:	African Studies Review
Volume:	38
Issue:	3
Period:	December
Pages:	43-59
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Nigeria
Subjects:	Ibibio masquerades folk drama Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Architecture and the Arts
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/524792
Abstract:	To the Ibibio of Nigeria, aesthetics is a metaphysics of living. It is an amalgam of social, economic, political, religious, cosmic and phenomenal forces which serve consensual utilitarian functions. The present paper examines ugliness as a factor of Ibibio aesthetics, especially in the context of its application to Ibibio dramatic arts. The most common portrayal of ugliness in Ibibio dramatic arts is achieved by the deliberate, disproportionate and exaggerated distortions of the features, forms and outlines of masks, masquerades and puppets. Whatever the form it takes, ugliness in Ibibio art has a sociological, psychological and aesthetic function, its primary aim being to terrify the beholder and inspire awe and reverence. To fully understand their traditional application and significance, the concept of the ugly and the aesthetics of ugliness must be broadened to include the generally 'distasteful' and 'disagreeable' content of Ibibio dramatic arts, especially in the areas of the vulgar, the obscene and the pornographic. App., bibliogr., notes.