Masquerade and Money in Urban Nigeria
Regular price
€127.99
14 days return policy
Shipping & Delivery
A01=Dr Jordan Fenton
A01=Jordan Fenton
Africa
African Art
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
Art history
Author_Dr Jordan Fenton
Author_Jordan Fenton
automatic-update
Calabar
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=KCU
Category=KCVS
COP=United States
Cross River Region
Culture
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
Economics
Economics of Art
Ekpe
eq_bestseller
eq_business-finance-law
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
Language_English
Masquerade
Mgbe
Nigeria
PA=Available
Performance
Price_€100 and above
PS=Active
Ritual
Secret Societies
Slave Trade
softlaunch
Traditional Art
Urban
West Africa
Product details
- ISBN 9781648250262
- Weight: 874g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 08 Feb 2022
- Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
- Language: English
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
Examines the economic and spatial importance of performance arts in West Africa through a close analysis of the masquerade culture of Calabar, the capital city of Nigeria's Cross River State.
Driving into urban Calabar, one is struck by two imposing, monumental rectangular columns, operating not unlike ancient triumphal arches, framing the entrance into Nigeria's capital city of the Cross River State. Relief carvings of Calabar's renowned masking characters adorn the monument. The icons, dramatically captured in choreographic poses, freezing the maskers in time, enshrine masquerade as the city's heritage and past identity. Far from being merely "traditional" and relegated to an earlier time, the Calabar-based masquerades explored in this book demonstrate a contemporary and global context indicative of the changing patterns of city life.
While the topic of cultural change is not necessarily new to African art history and cultural studies, few scholars or writers have attempted to understand why African arts so readily change. This book, the first full-length monograph addressing contemporary art in Calabar, explains the fluidity and thriving nature of masquerade by analyzing the ways in which masking is steeped in economic transaction and how street performances have become more public and spatially calculated. By unraveling the urban layers of masquerade arts and their performances, this book shows how so-called traditional culture gains new roles or currencies within a contemporary, city-based context.
JORDAN A. FENTON is Associate Professor of Art History at Miami University (Ohio). He has carried out fieldwork in Calabar (Nigeria) since 2008.
