The Exhibition

New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations shares the stories of four masquerade artists: Hervé Youmbi (Cameroon), Chief Ekpenyong Bassey Nsa (Nigeria), David Sanou (Burkina Faso), and Sheku “Goldenfinger” Fofanah (Sierra Leone), exploring their motivations, their artistic choices, the patronage and economic networks with which they engage, and how the artists adapt their respective genres in response to current circumstances and changing trends, locally and globally. This project is rooted in humanist ideas, driven by ethical considerations in working with living artists from previously colonized spaces, and is a focused effort to foster meaningful engagements with public audiences and communities on both sides of the Atlantic.