Disguise: Masks and Global African Art

Zina Saro-Wiwa, The Invisible Man (detail), 2015.
"Disguise: Masks and Global African Art connects the work of twenty-five contemporary artists with historical African masquerade, using play and provocation to invite viewers to think critically about their world and their place within it. By putting on a mask and becoming someone else, artists reveal hidden realities about society, including those of power, class, and gender, to suggest possibilities for the future. ... Masks have long been used by African artists to define relationships―between individuals, communities, the environment, or the cosmos―and, sometimes, to challenge the status quo. However, once masks were removed from their original performance context, they were transformed into museum objects, and their larger messages were often lost. ..."
Brooklyn Museum
SAM Invokes New Spirits in the Ambitious Disguise: Masks and Global African Art
The Brooklyn Museum Is Rethinking The Concept Of “African Masks”