In an art historical field work, there is always a tendency for one to experience a strong or powerful work of art that will, unconsciously, threatens to redirect the purpose of his/her research on a given topic. This was the exact way I felt after experiencing “Masquerade from Heaven (2009)”, an installation work done by Gerald Chukwuma and exhibited in Goethe Institut, Lagos, in December, 2009. Before that time, I have come across a number of phrases describing Africa as “a God forsaken land”, “a black continent” and so on. My contention on most of these phrases hinged on the fact that, none gives a desired picture of the continent and her people. For example, calling Africa “a black continent” means that people in the Maghreb states are visitors and the sub-saharan states with black population are the real owners of Africa. Although the continent is obviously the root of the black race, calling it “a black continent” does not give a true representation of what Africa is.
Also, if Africa is labeled as “a God forsaken land” probably because of the disasters (wars, diseases, HIV and other forms of crisis) taking place on the continent, that is still not a suitable way of describing Africa. This is because other continents also do experience a fair share of some of these disasters mentioned above, either in natural (as in the case of Japan’s earthquake) or un-natural way (like the civil disturbance/wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestinian etc). Base on these, it will be out of point to say that Africa is the only God forsaken continent in the world. It is in line with such views that “Masquerade from Heaven” find its relevance especially in redefining Africa amidst the controversial views differently held by others about the continent.
The work is an installation art that represents the relationship between Africa and the outside world. The artist make use of compressed empty cans, used recharge cards, pieces of wood, and other light-weight waste materials of varying shapes and sizes, and knitted them together using copper wire. This resulted into a wide multi-colour surface that was neatly tied around a constructed frame of about 6 feet high. The different colours of the materials used were aesthetically pleasing such that, if viewed from a distance, look more like an interesting mosaic. The design of the installation kept viewers wondering what could be inside the chamber of this motionless masquerade. This is probably the same way Africa is being treated. While many people approached it from the outside, no body knows the true situation of things as actually happening in Africa.
On the whole, the artist considers Africa as a masquerade with evils features like wars, sickness, poverty, corruption; yet the West and so called “first and second” world countries have profound interest in her rich and valuable resources. The work, in a way, revealed something about the negative image of Africa which countries like Nigeria have engaged in active campaign (Rebrand Nigeria- Good people, great nation) to help change the negative beliefs/thoughts stereotypically held against the African continent or people of African origin by the outside world.
*** Art in Disguise ***
