Guy Debord before Judith Butler wrote about performance on gender A marvel societythere were masquerades before the Internet allowed online avatars to appear. Forgery is a “social gathering of people wearing masks and often excellent costumes”, a social practice that has a history of hundreds of years. While the exhibition does a great job of exploring this profound and rich tradition, the artists and artworks displayed are contemporary. In this way, the title of the exhibition is almost a wrong name. “New African Masquerade: Art Innovation and Collaboration” is a panel exhibition at the New Orleans Museum of Art, which includes works by Chief Ekpenyong Bassey NSA, Sheku “Goldenfinger” Fofanah, David Sanou and Hervé Youmbi. By displaying the ensemble and recordings of the performance-activated masquerade, the exhibition brings an ancient practice to an ancient custom that shows that masquerade is an endless source of expression.
The most striking aspect of the exhibition is the outstanding craftsmanship of the masquerade ensemble, including the head to thin layers of materials such as edges, sequins, sequins, hair, silk embroidery, velvet and beads. Take any number of forms that completely transform the characters inside the character into something fantastic, tightly attached to the body, but never resemble it. Here, it is difficult to exaggerate the complexity of each ensemble. Each square inch of the garment is supersaturated with texture and color. Even on the static models in the exhibition, they are all full of potential energy. It is in their activation that these bands really live.
At the rear of the gallery space is a small square wall co. In 2022, a pair of Kimi masks created in André Sanou's studio is a performance of a pair of wooden masks. In 2022, in a powder room in Bobo-Dioulasso, Brkina Faso. The center of these three predictions contains two masks activated performers, performers rotate and over a dirt court court turt courtyard. The predictions on both sides capture the audience who observes the event, although our physical and temporal distance from it effectively implies that the audience is in the crowd. The true beauty of these ensembles is revealed as the performers dance, thus allowing the natural flow of masks and decorations to appear. While attracting viewing, this performance also achieves the identity performance of contemporary intersectional discussion centers. Because not by static definition, an identity is formed, but by fluids of multiple elements, constantly changing interactions. In this way, masquerades are a harbinger of the manifestation of our contemporary moment, which has appeared for hundreds of years before the first scholar wrote about performance.
Most interestingly, part of the introductory exhibition text states that many of these ensembles are not attributed to the manufacturer. This is through design, as the manufacturer itself deliberately confiscated the association of their names with the ensemble. This move seems counterintuitive in the context of the zealous individualism that capitalism produces. Why do artists give up their handicrafts? The answer comes again in performance. Although each ensemble has a unique structure, the potential modes of activation are infinite, and each dancer manipulates the suit in his own way. In these, ownership lies not in physically but in the way it participates, just as our identity is not made up of our bodies but formed through our work on the body. Here again, the masquerade proves to be a pioneer in contemporary identity with political ideas.
When we create an online username, build avatars for video games, or our best participant feature, are we pretending? This exhibition thinks we are, and I tend to agree. Throughout the exhibition, grand craftsmanship, public performance and selective anonymity are pillars, just as we fit each of us in forming our identities. Reframe the historic and globalization of these contemporary actions in the dictionary of masquerade, reminding us that we are not that different after all. In this case, there is beauty. Use the masquerade as a matrix, and daily interactions become dances, speeches become songs, writing becomes poetry, and sounds become music. The exhibition shows that if we embrace the language of the masquerade, life will be more charming and dreamy.
“New African Masquerade: Art Innovation and Cooperation”As of August 10, 2025.
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