This collection is comprised of 769 35mm color slides, dates from 1982 to 1986 and documents various Agemo festivals, a performing art of the Yoruba religion. More specifically, Pemberton photographed Agemo funeral rites at the Asu Aluwa house in Olosiwonade, Ijebu, various Agemo priests and their stools, the Odun Agemo festival, Chief Sherafusi's Odun Agemo festival in Igbile, and Egungun dancing at the palace in Oru, Ijebu.
Scope and Contents:
This collection is comprised of 769 35mm color slides, dates from 1982 to 1986 and documents various Agemo festivals, a performing art of the Yoruba religion. More specifically, Pemberton photographed Agemo funeral rites at the Asu Aluwa house in Olosiwonade, Ijebu, various Agemo priests and their stools, the Odun Agemo festival, Chief Sherafusi's Odun Agemo festival in Igbile, and Egungun dancing at the palace in Oru, Ijebu.
Significant figures depicted include Chief Agbadagbodo, Adie, Chief Obulasmison, Chief Ewujagbori, Chief Sherafusi, Chief Nopa, the Idebi, Aliywal of Ejesha, Chief Posa, Chief Ebi, Chief Alisa and Chief Agbadagobodo. There are also images of Agemo shrines, ceremonial objects, including a brass crown, staff, iwapo, and ivory bracelet. The collection also documents the course of the Agemo festival in 1986, including food preparation, ceremonial activities and clothing, musicians, dancing and the Egungun masquerade.
Arrangement:
Arranged chronologically in five series and further grouped by location:
Series 1: Agemo Funeral Rites at the Asu Aluwa House, Olosiwonade, Ijebu, June 6, 1982 (82 slides)
Series 2: Agemo Priests and Their Stools, July 1986 (80 slides)
Series 3: Odun Agemo, July 7-10, 1986 (311 slides)
Series 4: Chief Sherafusi's Odun Agemo, Igbile, August 2, 1986 (129 slides)
Series 5: Egungun Dancing at the Palace, Oru, Ijebu, August 17, 19, 1986 (167 slides)
Biographical / Historical:
Professor, anthropologist, and author John Pemberton III (1928-2016) specialized in the art and rituals of Yoruba in Nigeria. He received a B.A. degree from Princeton University (1948), and a B.D. degree (1952) and a PhD. Degree (1958) from Duke University. His teaching activities included working as Assistant Professor of Religion at Randolph-Macon Woman's College (1954-1958) and Professor of Religion at Amherst College (1958-1998), where he was named the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Humanities (1985-1998) and the Crosby Professor of Religion (1975-1998).
His fieldwork began in 1969, and over the course of his career Pemberton took at least fourteen research trips to Nigeria. There, he was an Associate Fellow at the Institute of African Studies, University Ibadan (1981-1982) and a Visiting Research Associate in Ife, Ile-Ife (1986).
Pemberton's publications include Yoruba: Sculpture of West Africa (1982), co-authored with William Fagg; Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought (1990) and Yoruba Art and Aesthetics (1991), both co-authored with Rowland Abiodun and Henry Drewal; and Insight and Artistry in African Divination (Smithsonian Institution, 2000), among others.
Pemberton's professional service included serving on the Board of Advisors at the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, and Chair of the Working Group in African Studies in the Humanities at the Social Science Research Council/American Council of Learned Societies. He lectured widely, including at the Art Institute of Chicago; the Museum for African Art (now The Africa Center), New York; the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution; Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria; Rietberg Museum, Zurich, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; and Yale University.
Related Materials:
The EEPA also holds a related collection, the John Pemberton Collection, EEPA 2013-015.
The records of Pemberton's work as Associate Director for Collections and Research at the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, are held at the Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 94-027.
Provenance:
Donated in 2015 by John Pemberton III.
Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
John Pemberton III Collection Related to Agemo, EEPA 2015-010, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.
