The first exhibition of its kind, "New African Masquerades" presents the work of four artists working today in four different regions of West Africa: Chief Ekpenyong Bassey Nsa (Nigeria), Sheku “Goldenfinger” Fofanah (Sierra Leone), David Sanou (Burkina Faso), and Hervé Youmbi (Cameroon).

Focusing on each, we learn about masquerades that honor family, support the livelihoods of their makers, offer new imagery, and circulate through twenty-first century technology. Along with 13 masquerade ensembles made from materials including wood, cloth, fabric, sequins, raffia, beads, feathers, and shells, the exhibition includes an immersive video experience, with 360-degree views showing masquerade ensembles as they are made and performed.

Challenging historical collecting practices, the artworks included in "New African Masquerades" were newly commissioned for museum display, with the featured artists and communities actively negotiating how each artwork would be presented. To upend the idea of the “anonymous African artist,” the exhibition recounts in-depth stories about the lives, motivations, and ideas of each of the four participating masquerade makers.