Long before Judith Butler wrote about the performativity of gender, long before Guy Debord wrote The Society of the Spectacle, long before the advent of the internet allowed for online avatars, there was masquerade. Loosely defined as “a social gathering of persons wearing masks and often fantastic costumes,” masquerade is a social practice with centuries of observable history. While this exhibition does well to explore this deep and rich tradition, the artists and artworks presented are all contemporary. In this way, the title of this exhibition is almost a misnomer. “New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations” is a group exhibition at the New Orleans Museum of Art featuring the work of Chief Ekpenyong Bassey Nsa, Sheku “Goldenfinger” Fofanah, David Sanou and Hervé Youmbi. Through the presentation of immaculate and intricate masquerade ensembles and recordings of their activations in performance, this exhibition vivifies an ancient practice, showing that masquerade is an inexhaustible wellspring of expression.
The exhibition’s most striking aspect is the remarkable craftsmanship of masquerade ensembles—head-to-toe asemblages of materials like fringe, sequins, hair, silk embroidery, velvet and beads. Taking any number of forms, they completely transform the human figure within into something fantastical, clinging to the body but in no way resembling it. It is hard to overstate the intricacy of each ensemble here; every square inch of the vestments is supersaturated with texture and color. Even presented on static mannequins as they are in the exhibition, they are teeming with potential energy. It is in their activation that these ensembles truly come alive.
At the rear of the gallery space is a small square alcove. Projected across three of the walls is a performance of a pair of Kimi masks, created in the studio of André Sanou, at a masquerade in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, in 2022. The center of the three projections contains the two masks being activated, the performers twirling and sashaying across a dirt courtyard. The projections on either side capture the audience spectating the event, effectively implicating the viewer in the crowd despite our physical and temporal distance from it. As the performers dance, the true beauty of these ensembles is revealed, allowing the natural flow of the masks and adornments to emerge. While captivating to watch, this performance also actualizes the performativity of identity central to contemporary intersectionality discussions. For it is not via static definitions that an identity is formed, but through a fluid, ever-changing interaction of multiple elements. In this way, masquerade is an embodied precursor to our contemporary moment, one arising hundreds of years before the first scholars wrote about performativity.
Most intriguingly, one part of the introductory exhibition text states that many of these ensembles do not have an attributed maker. This is by design, as the makers themselves intentionally forfeited the association of their name with the ensemble. This move, seen against the backdrop of ardent individualism that capitalism engenders, seems counterintuitive. Why should an artist forgo claiming their handiwork? The answer lies again in performance. Though each ensemble features a unique construction, the potential modes of activation are limitless, with each dancer manipulating the suits in their own ways. In these, ownership lies not in the physical but in the way it is engaged, much like our identity is formed not by our physical makeup but by what we do with our bodies. Here again, masquerade proves to be a forerunner to contemporary notions of identity politics.
When we create an online username, build an avatar for a video game or don our finest to attend a function, are we masquerading? This exhibition would argue that we are, and I am inclined to agree. Throughout this exhibition, magnificent craftsmanship, public performance and selective anonymity are mainstays—as they are for each of us when forming our identities. Reframing these contemporary actions within the lexicon of masquerade historicizes and globalizes our actions, reminding us that we are not so different after all. And in this, there is beauty. Using masquerade as a matrix, daily interactions become dances, speech becomes song, writing becomes poetry and sounds become music. Life, the exhibition suggests, is more enchanting and fantastical if we embrace the language of masquerade.
“New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations” is at NOMA through August 10, 2025.
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