Paper short abstract:

This paper presents the masquerade ensembles of Sheku “Goldenfinger” Fofanah as an ethical and methodological case study for working with living African artists as presented by the ongoing exhibition and publication project New Masks Now: Artists Innovating Masquerade in Contemporary West Africa.

Paper long abstract:

Sheku Fofanah is highly regarded for his skills as a masquerade artist. Part of collaborative efforts for the New Masks Now exhibition, this paper documents Fofanah’s influence on creativity in Sierra Leone and traces the movement of two masking genres (Ordehlay and Jollay) from their original site of production (Freetown) to new performative arenas nationally and globally. As towns urbanize and international branches form, members utilize messaging platforms to purchase, track, and inspire masquerades, making them not only social applications but business tools.

For example, one of Fofanah’s Jollays traveled to a US museum, while the second remained in Freetown to perform with video documentation, Christmas 2022. Afterward it will be donated to the Sierra Leone National Museum, with copies of associated footage. A complementary Ordehlay ensemble by Tetina Cultural Society performed in Freetown (2016), then in Los Angeles (2018), where it was altered and livestreamed on Facebook. Traveling again, it resides in yet another culturally constructed space: the museum collection (National Museum of African Art).

Masquerades move not just in performative contexts but as part of techno-globalization. Together these examples illustrate the multiplicities of mobility, collaborative rather than extractive processes, and the porosity of ideas and borders through the agency of social media. As this paper and exhibition argue, collaborating with artists, communities, and museums sets new ethical precedents and foundational methodologies. Such approaches are necessary to de- and reconstruct notions of “tradition,” agitate and reset conventional museum practices, and appreciate masquerade arts as fundamentally relevant, exciting, and contemporary.

Paper short abstract:

As a contemporary artist, this paper details my ethical and collaborative approach between myself and Cameroonian communities that make and use local masquerades to produce global, traveling ensembles for museum and global contemporary art scene.

Paper long abstract:

My paper details my ethical and collaborative approach in working with traditional practitioners of different masquerade production, including carvers, beaders, coiffure and costume makers. My approach helps to sustain these professionals and perpetuate their skills, while our collaboration offers new models of creativity between old and new forms and ideas. While I develop the conceptual work, the physical ensembles are produced collaboratively. Such a mode of production links the ensembles to their originating communities. Further, the ensembles are integrated into the community through local performance, supervised by the appropriate society leaders. To achieve this integration, the ensembles must satisfy the rules and requirements of the dance societies. After authorization has been satisfied—which also impart meaning, power, and spirituality to the ensembles—the ensembles are activated through ritual. At this stage, the ensemble achieved their ceremonial roles within the community. I as the artist then make an unusual step: I change the function of the ensemble to take on an ambassadorial function, whereby it travels to distant communities and even foreign countries to visit or to take up residence—such as in a museum—and engage foreign audiences interested in viewing “African art.” My work thus engages new owners of the ensemble, who often agree to allow it to return to visit its community of origin to perform again there. The ensemble thus becomes like a traveling actor. My process forges relationships and communication between distant communities, forging a new ethical network with African masquerade ensembles.

Paper short abstract:

I recently commissioned new mask ensembles from artist David Sanou and others for US museums and a traveling exhibition. It was unprecedented and no clear protocol existed, so approval from masquerade authorities was essential. Long-term relationships and transparency were vital to gaining consent.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines my recent commission of new mask ensembles from artist David Sanou and others for U.S. museums and a traveling exhibition. The project transgressed the rules of masquerade: I was a non-initiate commissioning full-bodied mask ensembles for sale, export, and display, not sanctioned performance. Because it was unprecedented and no clear protocol existed, approval from authorities who govern masquerade was essential. I argue that long-term relationships and an ethical approach were vital to gaining consent.

Years of research in the region and with the artist's father taught me that David Sanou does not make masks. He carves wood heads that his patrons turn into masks. So, rather than commissioning masks, I commissioned the heads from David. Any initiate can make mask bodies, but only for sanctioned performances. Thus, I sought permission to commission mask bodies from a masquerade authority which required specifying the anticipated purpose and use of the full ensembles, negotiating access to restricted knowledge, and relying on the advocacy of colleagues in the region. Because my co-curators and I plan for the show to have a high profile and gain attention on social media, I explained to all parties that the commissions would not be secret; people in the city would know, but I could keep names fairly private, if requested.

Due to the lasting relationships I had fostered with the artist, facilitators, and officials, transparent consultation with those colleagues, and demonstrated respect for the official chain of command, were realized the commissions.

Paper short abstract:

The paper offers a transparent and ethical model for Western researchers working with artists in the historically marginalized spaces of the Global South. The examination builds from the authors long term relationship with artist, Chief Ekpenyong Bassey Nsa in Calabar, located in southeast Nigeria.

Paper long abstract:

This paper engages my ongoing work with Nigerian artist, Chief Ekpenyong Bassey Nsa, who I have worked with and commissioned a number of complete masquerade costumes from over the last fourteen years. Most of these ensembles are from the Ekpe secret society, an institution that is found throughout southeast Nigeria and west Cameroon. Three recent commissions from 2022 will be the focus of this examination. My intention with this paper is to provide a transparent analysis of these commissions developed by both he and I in which we agreed upon to embrace in our work together since 2008. From my time with Chief Bassey Nsa, I became attuned to the fact that if one is to make it as a sought after, full-time artist in his home city of Calabar (Nigeria), two interrelated skills foster creativity and thus competitive marketability: a keen sense of business and economic acumen mixed with a talent for developing profitable innovations. Economic are thus essential in his artistry and livelihood. His knowledge and experiences shaped our relationship and taught me much about the ethics in working with living artists. Drawing from my experiences and long-term relationship with Chief Bassey Nsa, this paper expands on the notion of "ethnographic reciprocity" and how I am able to ethically commission masquerades of secret societies for Western museum collections. The paper thus endeavors to offer a transparent and ethical model for Western researchers working with artists in the historically marginalized spaces of the Global South.