The Fusion of African Masquerades & Music Videos

Oct 11

*A masquerade festival. Photo by Nkoriko*

Join us on a journey to understand the fusion of African masquerades and music videos, and how they continue to celebrate the vibrant cultural traditions of the continent. Most people see masquerades as a single thing or just costumes, a masquerade is always an event. This list we’re putting together here is a part of a collective, it’s an ongoing list.

in alphabetical order

A wise quote from Leopards of the Magical Dawn: Science and the Cosmological Foundations of Igbo Culture, by Nze Chukwukadibia E. Nwafor,

the Ijele Uwa notion further encapsulates the Igbo primal observation that, reality is like a dancing masquerade, and to better experience or appreciate its highly assorted facets, wonders, dimensions, temperaments, aesthetics and opportunities, one must also move around in tune with the mobile inclinations of the masquerade. This they encapsulate as “anaro akwu ofu ebe enene mmonwu” lit. this world is like a dancing masquerade, if you want to see it well, you do not stand in one place.

Six cool proverbs & axioms to ponder on:

Uwa bu ijele mmonwu, akwuro ofu ebe enene ya - The world is a grand masquerade, you can’t appreciate it’s entirety from a single view or fixed point.
Ife na-azo azo na-egbu egbu, ife na-egbu egbu na-azo azo - What saves also kills and what kills also saves.
Ife kwulu, ife akwudebe ya - When something stands/exists, something else will stand/exist beside it.
Ife ikenya dono ana fu nwata ligolu enu Oji o ma-afu ya - What an elder sees clearly sitting on their chair, if a child climbs up the top of the tallest iroko tree, they will not see it.
Mmuo na mmadu na-azu afia, mana ofeke amaroo - Spirit and human beings are in constant transaction, but the ignorant person does not know.
Nwata na-agba egwu sụrụgede, amaghi na sụrụgede bụ egwu ndị mmụọ - A child that dances surugede does not know that surugede is the dance of the spirits.