New masks now: artists innovating masquerade in contemporary west africa [new masks now: artists innovating masquerade in contemporary west africa is a major traveling exhibition and publication…

The New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) received a $500,000 Project Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Promotion of the Humanities Public Programs (CFDA 45.164) to support the major traveling exhibition and publication project "NEW MASKS NOW: ARTISTS INNOVATING MASQUERADE IN CONTEMPORARY WEST AFRICA." This project presents the stories and artistic choices of four individual masquerade artists in West Africa, exploring issues of restitution, ownership, and research ethics related to contemporary masquerade practices. The grant, awarded on October 1, 2023, will fund the development and presentation of this exhibition and accompanying publication over a four-year period, with a target completion date of September 30, 2027. Additionally, NOMA received a subaward for this project to support streamlined operations, though the specific details of the subaward are not provided.

New masks now: artists innovating masquerade in contemporary west africa [new masks now: artists innovating masquerade in contemporary west africa is a major traveling exhibition and publication project which presents the stories of four individual masquerade artists, their motivations, artistic choices, and the patronage and economic networks with which they engage in order to make clear that masquerade is fundamentally contemporary. The show offers fresh research models for contemporary masquerade, bringing to the fore issues relating to restitution, ownership, and research ethics. This is the first major exhibition on contemporary masquerade artists to focus on individual creators rather than the typical presentation of masquerades as products of entire cultures, which undermines the nuanced and layered stories that individual artists and masquerades tell.]