Focusing on the work of four artists working in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations offers a close look at contemporary West African masquerade.

Works on view by Chief Ekpenyong Bassey Nsa, Sheku “Goldenfinger” Fofanah, David Sanou, and Hervé Youmbi include 13 head-to-toe masquerade ensembles created for social, spiritual, entertainment, and museum contexts.

Organized in partnership with the Musée des Civilisations noires, New African Masquerades will travel in parallel tours of North American and African venues.

The exhibition is supported by major planning and implementation grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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NEW ORLEANS – In April 2025, the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) will open New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations, a major exhibition presenting the work of four contemporary artists working in cities across West Africa: Chief Ekpenyong Bassey Nsa, Sheku “Goldenfinger” Fofanah, David Sanou, and Hervé Youmbi.

The first presentation of its kind, New African Masquerades offers a rare look into contemporary West African masquerade by contextualizing the works of individual artists within a range of social, economic, and religious practices and examining their networks of viewership and exchange. Made from materials including wood, cloth and fabrics, sequins, feathers, gourds, raffia, and cowry shells, the ensembles on view represent a wide variety of masquerade practices and societies. 

“New Orleans has a rich tradition of masquerade, adornment, and costuming, including the many parading organizations that enliven our city’s streets during Carnival and throughout the entire year,” said Susan M. Taylor, The Montine McDaniel Freeman Director of NOMA. “This exhibition offers an important opportunity to see masquerade as a global form of artistic expression, performance, and cultural heritage.”

New African Masquerades is on view April 4–August 10, 2025, in NOMA’s first-floor Ella West Freeman Galleries. Organized in partnership with the Musée des Civilisations noires (MCN) in Dakar, Senegal, the exhibition will also be presented in a parallel form for African audiences—the first time an exhibition will be presented in such a way in North America and Africa.

The term “masquerade” has many different meanings across different cultures and communities and is loosely defined as a broad set of practices wherein individuals and societies dance in full-body, multimedia ensembles. These ensembles are then activated in many ways, including in performances, processions, and other ceremonies by either the masquerade artist or another practitioner. 

Importantly, New African Masquerades presents masquerade as a complex and diverse collection of evolving contemporary practices. Some masquerades—such as those of Bassey Nsa within the Ekpe Society of Calabar, Nigeria—hold political and didactic significance; others—like Fofanah’s designs for Jollay and Ordehlay in Sierra Leone—are primarily social and celebrate holidays. Still others are created to honor a life well lived—as is the case of Sanou in Burkina Faso—or to critique—as Youmbi demonstrates. Some are private, and others are paraded through the streets. And contrary to many static museum presentations, masquerade is almost always defined by movement, theatricality, and audience participation.

Organized around four central themes, New African Masquerades provides a thorough consideration of the works of Bassey Nsa, Fofanah, Sanou, and Youmbi. Embedded within the presentation of these artists’ works are considerations of major concerns across masquerade practices more broadly: collaboration, economics, innovation, and mobility.

In its North American presentation, New African Masquerades includes thirteen full, head-to-toe masquerade ensembles created by artists and groups who are celebrated for their work locally in their communities, across the continent of Africa, and internationally. Full artist bios are included below.

In addition to being a featured artist, Youmbi—whose work directly addresses the ethical questions inherent in presenting masquerades internationally—serves as a core member of the exhibition planning and curatorial team.

“My work over the last ten years has taken the form of hybrid masks that challenge the clichés and categories to which masks from Africa have generally been confined,” Youmbi said. “Addressing the question of new masks in Africa today is not just about the aesthetics and ethics of collaborations that govern the creation of new objects and living entities from Africa. It’s also, and above all, a question of envisaging new ways of collecting and exhibiting them.”

In addition to ensembles, the exhibition includes other elements such as photography, recorded interviews, and an immersive video experience showing never-before-seen 360-degree footage, including views of the ensembles being performed, looks into the artists’ studios, and clips sharing the perspectives of the artists.

Created with the support and participation of the artists, masquerade societies, and their communities, the immersive experience and supplementary videos offer visitors the extremely rare opportunity to see masquerades that would normally not be accessible to the public. These additional exhibition components underscore the importance of music, movement, libations, skillful presentation, and audience participation to masquerade more broadly.

Beyond highlighting the works of four specific artists, the exhibition and accompanying catalogue present a case study in the methodology of producing a collaborative, cross-continental exhibition. Considering topics such as the ethics of presenting masquerade works in a museum context, traveling ensembles within and beyond the African continent, provenance, and cultural ownership, with contributions from African and North American scholars and artists, New African Masquerades suggests an ethically-grounded transparent model for contemporary exhibition-making related to African art.

“In developing this exhibition, it has been crucial to reframe masquerade as a vibrant contemporary practice that both honors past genres and relates to a global present,” said Amanda M. Maples, Françoise Billion Richardson Curator of African Art at NOMA. “Museum visitors will leave with a better view of masquerade as a rich collection of artistic practices today. New African Masquerades acts as a corrective for the frequent exclusion of masquerade in presentations of African and contemporary art.”

Catalogue
The accompanying 264-page exhibition catalogue is published by the New Orleans Museum of Art and D Giles Limited and distributed by Yale University Press. Authored by Jordan A. Fenton, Lisa Homann, Amanda M. Maples, and Hervé Youmbi and with additional contributions from Kevin Dumouchelle, Ndubuisi Ezeluomba, Ishmeal A. Kamara, and Aimé Kantoussan, the volume includes 188 color and black-and-white illustrations; artist biographies; in-depth analyses of masquerade ensembles in relation to themes of collaboration, economics, innovation, and mobility; and a discussion of the methodologies for ethically commissioning and acquiring masquerade art.

New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations will be available in April 2025 from the NOMA Museum Shop and other retailers.

Exhibition Travel Schedule and Presentation in Africa
April 4–August 10, 2025: New Orleans Museum of Art
October 10, 2025–January 4, 2026: Frist Art Museum, Nashville
February 27-July 5, 2026: San Antonio Museum of Art
September 2026–January 2027: Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida
February 19–September 26, 2027: Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC

In addition to these North American venues, New African Masquerades is planned to travel to African museums beginning next year:
February–June 2026: Musée des Civilisations noires, Dakar, Senegal
Fall 2026: Sierra Leone National Museum, Freetown, Sierra Leone
2027: National Museum, Calabar, Nigeria.

The presentation of New African Masquerades at these African venues will include parallel commissioned masquerade ensembles that will remain in the care of communities and institutions on the continent.

Additionally, the exhibition will include a PWA, or progressive web app, to present a digital-forward, bilingual (English–French) exploration of the artists and themes included in New African Masquerades—specifically designed for West African audiences.

Exhibition Team
New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations is organized by the New Orleans Museum of Art with the Musée des Civilisations noires in Dakar, Senegal.

The exhibition planning team is led by Amanda M. Maples, Françoise Billion Richardson Curator of African Art at NOMA, with co-curators Jordan A. Fenton (Associate Professor, Miami University, Ohio) and Lisa Homann (Associate Professor, UNC Charlotte) and core collaborators Aimé Kantoussan (Research Director, Musée des Civilisations Noires) and artist Hervé Youmbi.

Support and Funding
New African Masquerades has received generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in the form of an initial planning grant and a major implementation grant—which funded the research, production, and interpretative materials for this exhibition. A further grant was recently awarded from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to support NOMA’s presentation of New African Masquerades.

As part of the NEH implementation grant, NOMA hired Simeneh Gebremariam as Curatorial and Programs Assistant in January 2024 to support the development and presentation of the exhibition. Having worked in museums in North America and Africa, Gebremariam holds an MA in sociocultural anthropology and a graduate certificate in African studies from the University of Michigan, as well as a graduate certificate in museum studies from the University of Memphis. He also earned a BA in music and an MA in cultural studies from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia.

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Artist Bios
Chief Ekpenyong Bassey Nsa, born in 1973 in Creek Town, Nigeria, is a renowned third-generation Efik artist specializing in the creation of masquerade ensembles, beadwork, chieftaincy attire, cultural knowledge, and funeral shrines. He learned his craft from his father, who is credited with modernizing masquerade ensembles for the Ekpe secret society central to Efik culture as well as throughout southeast Nigeria and west Cameroon. Bassey Nsa’s artistry is deeply tied to the Ekpe society and his father’s legacy. Initiated into Ekpe at a young age, he was conferred with the Ekpe chieftaincy title, Obong Murua Okpoho, in 2009. His art is intertwined with family and tradition, with every work beginning with a libation to his father, seeking guidance through dreams and prayer. His commissions extend throughout the Cross River region as well as to international institutions.

Sheku “Goldenfinger” Fofanah, born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, in 1976, is known for his intricate and innovative designs. Based in the Fourah Bay community, he is the resident kotu (builder/artist) for the Gladiators Power Ordehlay Society (co-founded by his father) and contributes to other societies such as Tourist Ojeh and Omo Jessah Hunting. Fofanah’s work spans various masquerade genres, including Jollay, Ordehlay, and Hunting, and his designs are sought after in Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and internationally in Australia, Canada, and the UK, illustrating how masquerades serve not only as performative art forms but also as symbols of identity and connectivity in a rapidly changing world. Fofanah’s designs are part of prestigious collections, including the Sierra Leone National Museum. His work has been displayed for national celebrations, such as the British Museum’s commission for Sierra Leone’s golden independence anniversary.

David Sanou, born in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in 1969, is a third-generation master sculptor based in Bobo-Dioulasso. He assumed artistic control over his father’s studio in 2009 and has continued to innovate within existing practices, while simultaneously creating new masquerade forms such as “Compromise Kimi” headpieces, “emblematic portraits” of recently deceased community members that are danced in annual funeral celebrations. David Sanou’s artworks are featured in both secular and ceremonial occasions. His clientele includes chiefs and affluent patrons of masquerades in the region as well as museums abroad. Sanou has gained a reputation for quality and creativity, adhering to the standards of regional mask genres, while innovating new forms and types.

Hervé Youmbi, born in 1973 in Bangui, Central African Republic, and raised in Douala, Cameroon, is a celebrated contemporary artist deeply influenced by Africa’s complex history. Youmbi’s work explores issues of identity, power, and the legacy of colonialism through portraiture and hybrid masks bridging the gap between traditional African rituals and global contemporary art, questioning what is considered “traditional” or “contemporary.” Youmbi has been featured in, among others, the 2017 Münster Skulptur Project, Germany, the Into Nature Biennial, Holland (2018)  exhibits at the Musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, France (2022), the Uchiboso Art Festival, Ichihara City, Japan (2024), and the Louvre Museum, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2025). His work is included in multiple global collections, including the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art and the Menil Collection. 

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Image Credits
Figure 1: A pair of Kimi masks (headpiece carved by David Sanou in the studio of André Sanou) performing greetings with the lead griot Tchiedo playing his drum behind them, Bindougosso district, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, May 3, 2022. Photo by Lisa Homann. 

Figure 2: Kimi masquerade ensemble in honor of André Sanou’s Qui Dit Mieux?, 2022 (headpiece by David Sanou in the studio of André Sanou; the maker of the body requests anonymity). Collection of the Fitchburg Art Museum. Photo courtesy of the New Orleans Museum of Art.

Figure 3: Sheku “Goldenfinger” Fofanah parading with his Mami Wata devil during the Massaboni Ordehlay procession, Lunsar, Sierra Leone, December 26, 2022. Photo by Amanda M. Maples.

Figure 4: Sheku “Goldenfinger” Fofanah, Sierra Leonean (active in Freetown), “Fairy” Masquerade Ensemble, 2022. Fabric, sequins, wood, paint, glue: life-size. Commission for the Fitchburg Art Museum. Photo courtesy of the New Orleans Museum of Art.

Figure 5: Hervé Youmbi, Cameroonian (active in Douala), Tso Scream Mask, Visages de masques (IX) series, 2015–2023. Wood, pigment, fiber, beads, textile, glue, velvet and cotton fabric, silk embroidery, horse-hair. Collection of the New Orleans Museum of Art, museum purchase, Robert P. Gordy Fund, 2023.38.1-.7.

Figure 6: Hervé Youmbi, Tso Scream Mask and Tso Scream Leopard Mask at the Nka’a Kossié society succession ceremony at Fondati Chieftaincy, Saturday, December 3, 2022. Photo by Hervé Youmbi. Courtesy of the artist and Axis Gallery, New York, New York, and West Orange, New Jersey.

Figure 7: Two raffia Efik Ekpe masquerades with Chief Ekpenyong Bassey Nsa during his Ekpe chieftaincy installation, Creek Town, Nigeria, December 31, 2009. Photo by Jordan A. Fenton. 

Figure 8: Chief Ekpenyong Bassey Nsa, Nigerian (active in Calabar), Afia Awan Masquerade Ensemble, 2022. Polyester fabric, raffia, leather: life-size. Collection of the New Orleans Museum of Art, museum purchase, Françoise Billion Richardson Fund, 2022.85.a-.h.

About NOMA and the Besthoff Sculpture Garden
The New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) and its Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden are home to innovative exhibitions, installations, educational programs, and research. Exploring human creativity across time, cultures, and disciplines, the global scope of the museum’s initiatives open a vibrant dialogue with the history and culture of New Orleans. The museum stewards a collection of nearly 50,000 works, with exceptional holdings in African art, photography, decorative arts, and Japanese art, as well as strengths in American and French art, and an expanding collection highlighting contemporary artists. The museum’s exhibitions and dynamic learning and engagement offerings serve as a forum for visitors to engage with diverse perspectives, share cultural experiences, and foster a life of learning at all ages. Recent exhibitions include Black Orpheus: Jacob Lawrence and the Mbari Club, Called to the Camera: Black American Studio Photographers, The Orléans Collection (an exhibition of forty European masterpieces from the collection of the city’s namesake, Philippe II, Duc d’Orléans), East of the Mississippi: Nineteenth Century America Landscape Photography, and Changing Course: Reflections on New Orleans Histories (seven contemporary art projects focusing on reimagining stories from the city’s past).

NOMA’s 12-acre Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden expands visitors’ experiences of the museum with one of the most notable sculpture gardens in the country. The Besthoff Sculpture Garden, free and open to the public seven days a week, has nearly 100 sculptures and outdoor works of art situated in a unique landscape featuring Spanish moss-laden live oaks and a sinuous lagoon surrounded by an expansive ecosystem of native plants. The works in the garden range from the 19th to the 21st centuries, with pieces by Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore, Louise Bourgeois, Ida Kohlmeyer, Claes Oldenburg, Sean Scully, Maya Lin, Do Ho Suh, Ugo Rondinone, Wangechi Mutu, Hank Willis Thomas, and many others. The Besthoff Sculpture Garden features contemporary design elements—including a sculpture pavilion, an amphitheater, and an architecturally significant canal link bridge connecting the garden’s original 2003 footprint with a 2019 expansion. Its water management practices support the health and resiliency of New Orleans City Park and the surrounding environment. Throughout the year, NOMA hosts outdoor programs in the Besthoff Sculpture Garden including festivals, performances, wellness classes, tours, and more.

About the Museum of Black Civilizations
The Musée des Civilisations noires (Museum of Black Civilizations) is a national museum in Dakar, Senegal, that opened on December 6, 2018. Directed by Prof. Mouhamed Abdallah Ly, the MCN was conceived with the goal of highlighting “Africa’s contribution to the world’s cultural and scientific patrimony.” A major project evolving over the course of fifty years, it is the realization of a vision of Léopold Sédar Senghor, Senegal’s first president, to create a museum that would represent the histories and contemporary cultures of Black people everywhere.

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Media Contact
Charlie Tatum
Director of Marketing and Communications
New Orleans Museum of Art
ctatum@noma.org
504.658.4103