New African Masquerades: Tradition Meets Contemporary Expression

In the Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College, a striking masquerade costume captures attention. Nearly three meters tall, this piece, titled Gelee, is crafted from aluminium soda cans and synthetic fabric. Created by Nigerian artist Victor Ehikhamenor in 2018, it embodies the exhibition’s theme: masquerade is a continually reinvented mode of expression.

The exhibition, New African Masquerades, opened in September and runs until January 21, 2024. Curated by Dr. Chika Okeke-Agulu from Princeton University, it features 28 works by 14 West African artists. These masquerade costumes—ceremonial objects with spiritual significance—are reinterpreted to address contemporary issues such as environmental degradation and shifting gender roles.

West African masquerades act as transformative vehicles, bridging the human and spiritual realms. Costumes utilize local materials—raffia, carved wood, and textiles that reflect regional histories. In the 19th-century Igbo tradition, masks like the Agbogho Mmuo represented ideal beauty, mirroring the social aesthetics of their time. As Okeke-Agulu noted, today’s artists ‘disrupt and expand this tradition, treating masquerades less as vessels of static heritage and more as vibrant platforms for critique.’

Among the standout works is Hassan Hajjaj’s Kesh Angels Go Gold (2016), where Moroccan street culture intersects with masquerade aesthetics. Motorcycle helmets transform into masks, adorned with gold foil and patterned textiles. Hajjaj explores the symbolism of the mask—not merely a disguise but a statement on mobility and visibility. Similarly, Zohra Opoku, a Ghanaian-German artist, uses layered photographic prints on fabric to create wearable works that interrogate diasporic identity.

The dialogue between past and present is visible in the shared use of textiles. Yoruba artist Tunde Owolabi’s Aso Ebi Series (2020) draws from Aso-Oke, the handwoven cloth historically reserved for ceremonies. However, Owolabi’s metallic threads and digital design techniques suggest a future where tradition must adapt to technology. His works ‘capture a duality, oscillating between reverence and reinvention.’

Changes extend beyond materials and techniques. Several artists confront contemporary political demands. Serge Attukwei Clottey’s Yellow Brick Road (2021) reimagines Ghana’s Kente cloth tradition using recycled yellow jerry cans, common in Accra’s informal water economy. By juxtaposing modern detritus with a revered art form, Clottey critiques socioeconomic inequalities embedded within global environmental crises. The exhibition’s wall texts clarify that this is no nostalgic survey.

Displaying works on mannequins rather than static mounts animates the costumes, suggesting their performative origins. Archival video footage of traditional masquerades, provided by institutions like the National Museum of Lagos, adds historical context. However, the absence of live performance leaves questions unresolved. How might these contemporary masquerades move? What new meanings might their choreography generate?

Critics have noted the exhibition treads a fine line between celebration and appropriation. The Wellin Museum, a small but ambitious venue, cannot silence larger debates about Western institutions showcasing African art. In conversation with ARTDESENT, Okeke-Agulu acknowledged this tension, stating, ‘We are aware that these reinterpretations are often directed at a global art market. The challenge was to balance that with the works’ rootedness in West African cultural spaces.’

The market looms over these innovations. Works like El Anatsui’s Earth’s Skin (2007) have fetched six-figure sums at auction, and the global appetite for African contemporary art shows no signs of slowing. Sotheby’s Africa Now sales and institutions like Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town have both fueled and framed this interest. However, the commercialization of tradition risks flattening its community-specific nuances.

This exhibition invites viewers to reconsider the masquerade not as an artifact but as a language—one that speaks to present urgencies. Returning to Ehikhamenor’s Gelee, the choice of soda cans critiques consumer waste and celebrates improvisation as a distinctly African artistic strategy. It poses a question: how much can tradition absorb before it becomes something entirely other?

New African Masquerades raises this question while leaving it unresolved. What remains is an evolving conversation, a reminder that innovation and heritage are collaborators.