Zangbeto Masquerade Costume
The zangbeto is the towering masquerade of the Fon of Benin, a cone-shaped costume of plaited straw and raffia worn over the body so that only a skirt of fibers is seen, with the performer hidden inside making the figure spin, whirl and race through the streets of its own accord. The word means 'night watchman,' and the zangbeto is exactly that: the masked guardian of the town that patrols after dark, hunting witches and thieves, and every village has its zangbeto society with its initiates and its rules. The costume is never empty, the spirit is said to enter it, and the figure dances, chants