ST. PETERSBURG — “New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations” will be on view Aug. 15 through Jan. 3, at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, 255 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg.
Bringing together thirteen intricate, full-body masquerade ensembles alongside photography, video, and immersive multimedia experiences, the exhibition offers a rare introduction to contemporary masquerade traditions and artistic conversations across West Africa. “New Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations” is organized by the New Orleans Museum of Art, in partnership with the Museé des Civilisations noires in Dakar, Senegal, and received generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The exhibition centers on the work of four internationally recognized artists: Chief Ekpenyong Bassey Nsa of Nigeria; Sheku “Goldenfinger” Fofanah of Sierra Leone; David Sanou of Burkina Faso; and Hervé Youmbi of Cameroon. Together, their works illuminate the diversity, creativity, and evolving nature of masquerade practices today.
Across many West African cultures, masquerade encompasses a broad range of artistic, social, spiritual, and civic traditions. Encompassing sculpture, textiles, performance, music, movement, and community participation, these performance traditions continuously adapt to contemporary life. Through richly detailed ensembles crafted from wood, raffia, fabric, feathers, sequins, beads, gourds, and cowry shells, “New African Masquerades” examines how living artists and their communities sustain, reinvent, and globalize these sacred and civic customs in the 21st century.
“We are honored to bring this transformative exhibition to Tampa Bay,” said Klaudio Rodriguez, executive director and CEO of the MFA. “‘New African Masquerades’ invites our visitors to experience African art not as static objects behind glass, but as vibrant, collaborative, and evolving expressions of living culture.”
Unlike conventional museum displays of isolated masks or costumes, this exhibition presents masquerade as a dynamic, movement-based art form. The exhibition explores how artists work with performers, patrons, societies, and communities to create ensembles that come to life through movement, ceremony, and public engagement. Organized around themes of collaboration, economics, innovation, and mobility, the exhibition highlights how artists respond to changing cultural, political, and global landscapes while remaining deeply rooted in local traditions.
Featured highlights include:
• Chief Ekpenyong Bassey Nsa’s elaborate ensembles created within the Ekpe Society of southeastern Nigeria.
• Sheku “Goldenfinger” Fofanah’s intricately embellished masquerades associated with Sierra Leone’s Jollay and Ordehlay traditions.
• David Sanou’s innovative sculptural headpieces developed in Burkina Faso.
• Hervé Youmbi’s hybrid masks that bridge ceremonial practice and contemporary art while questioning longstanding assumptions about African masks in museum collections.
“New African Masquerades gloriously dispels any preconceptions that African masking traditions are static and unchanging, by highlighting the work of named, living artists who are driving a rich, international dialogue,” said Dr. Stanton Thomas, William and Hazel Hough chief curator. “Their splendid ensembles are meant for the world stage.”
In addition to the ensembles themselves, the exhibition features documentary photography, recorded interviews, and immersive video installations that allow visitors to experience masquerades in motion and within their original cultural settings. Created in close collaboration with artists, masquerade societies, and local communities, these materials provide uncommon access to performances, workshops, and ceremonies that are rarely documented for museum audiences.
“New African Masquerades” also offers a broader examination of how museums can work collaboratively across continents to present living cultural traditions. Developed through partnerships among artists, scholars, and institutions in Africa and North America, the exhibition reflects ongoing conversations about cultural stewardship, artistic agency, and ethical exhibition-making.
The MFA will host a robust schedule of educational and public programming throughout the exhibition’s run, including lectures by leading international scholars, artist talks, hands-on youth workshops, and celebratory public events. All program details and ticket information will be updated regularly at mfastpete.org.