Ethics & Methodology

This exhibition tells the stories of active masquerade artists in West Africa. Our aim is to offer a fresh take on the vitality of contemporary masquerade arts and showcase the artworks and voices of the individual creators. In focusing on current artists, their motivations, artistic choices, and the patronage and economic networks with which they engage, this exhibition makes clear that creativity in masquerade is fundamentally contemporary. By demonstrating the contemporary relevance of masquerade, the exhibition also questions why more masquerade artists at work today are excluded from the African art historical “canon.” Further, another major goal of this show is to provide fresh research models for contemporary masquerade, and to bring to the fore issues relating to restitution, ownership and ethics of working with living artists. In the end, this exhibition offers audiences a more nuanced and personalized voice with which to understand the vibrancy of contemporary masquerade arts in West Africa.