Art and fashion fans may have spotted Phyllis Galembo's pictures in galleries and museums showcasing contemporary photography or conceptual fashion designs. The work of this American fine art portrait artist could indeed be analysed from different points of view, spanning from the anthropological research to the art of adornment.
In her photographs performers in costume are informally posed against a plain background causing the viewer to focus on the aesthetics, theatricality and power of the fancy dress they are wearing. Her work has so far focused on capturing the cultural and religious traditions of countries such as Brazil, Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, Benin and Nigeria.
The set of images taken by the photographer and professor of art in Nigeria in 2005 is particularly symbolical because it looks at the transformative power of religious clothing and at the masks donned in ritual performances. A selection of Galembo's photographs will be included in "Fancy Dress Masquerade", an event curated by Courtnay Micots, Assistant Professor of Art History at Florida A & M University, that will be on at the Accra-based Gallery 1957 (8 - 26 August 2017).
The exhibition will focus on the art of Ghana's century-old tradition of Carnivalesque performance and will feature twelve costumes by artists from Winneba, Saltpond, Cape Coast and Takoradi juxtaposed to photographs of the performers in costume by Galembo. Galembo's photographs of Winneba masqueraders will grace the main gallery area, while her photographs of West African masquerades will line an adjoining hallway.
The secular masquerade known as Fancy Dress - or Kakaamotobe - has become an integral part of local celebrations in coastal Ghana today. During Easter, Christmas, Boxing Day, New Year's Day, harvest festivals and at member and patron funerals, performers take part in Fancy Dress street parading, dancing in front of chiefs' palaces, hotels and public squares, accompanied by drums or a brass band playing highlife, adaha, gospel and Christmas songs.
The elaborately constructed costumes and masks with their accumulation of fancy laces, fabrics in fluorescent colours, plastic gems and ornamental tinsel strips allow the masqueraders - most of whom belong to Ghana's poorest neighborhoods - to transform into very different characters embodying wealth, abundance and joy.
Apart from looking at specific event such as Winneba's Masquefest, a competitive annual event on New Year's Day that began in 1957 (withits elaborate costumes reflecting an older style), the exhibition will showcase the diversity in costumes and look at trademark characters like the Old Man, Father Christmas, Cowboys and Cowgirls, and the ubiquitous Simple Dress.
Photographs and a video of Masquefest 2017 will also be showcased and the juxtaposition of Galembo's sumptuous photographs with the costumes will prompt not just exciting comparisons between art and the power of transformation through fashion, but will offer the chance to look at further contrasts and themes.
The performances during which the masquerades are employed are indeed linked with a wide range of themes, including fertility, war and illness. Such themes are all reflected in Galembo's portraits together with key dichotomies exploring the tensions between human beings and divine entities, traditions and modern life, the past and the future - worlds that the performers freely cross once they cover up their faces and dress up. In Galembo's images, the wearer transforms from a mortal to a divine being and it is worth remembering that participants in these rituals also believe that the spirits of ancestors take possession of their bodies during such events.
There are also some tailoring stories to be told here: some of the artists included in the exhibition (featuring: Augustina Mensah, Joe Kwesi Amotin, Daniel Bonney, Stephen Bonzie Ghunney, Nana Poku Kwabena, Louis Abeaku Yamoah, Alhassan Yohaya, and Okus Tailor, from Winneba; Kodwo Francis Coker from Saltpond; Papa Kwesi Banya from Cape Coast; and Seth Adjei, Emmanuel Eshun, Benjamin Essel, and Justice Quayson from Takoradi) served long apprenticeships with master tailors, before becoming masters themselves.
A few of them work full-time as Fancy Dress tailors, others practice this art only between November and December: Augustina Mensah is one of the few female tailors who make these costumes on an annual basis and has 27 years of experience; Louis Abeaku Yamoah (there will be two of his costumes in the exhibition, including a Cowgirl from Masquefest 2012 and the Ghana Herald from Masquefest 2017) is one of the most gifted tailors with 42 years of experience. Accessories will be represented by masks made with wire mesh by Emmanuel Mbrom from Swedru and with papier maché by Donatus Acquandoah (a.k.a. Hippies) from Elmina.
Fancy Dress masquerades may not be fashion shows, but this exhibition will prove they are visual spectacles with their own energy, colours and sound, and they represent a way to combine traditional culture with contemporary moods.
Image credits for this post
Phyllis Galembo, Two in Fancy Dress with Pointed Hats, Tumus Masquerade Group, Winneba, Ghana 2010. © Phyllis Galembo.
Phyllis Galembo, Cowboy, Tumus Masquerade Group, Winneba,Ghana 2009. © Phyllis Galembo.
Phyllis Galembo, Fancy Dress with Rubber Mask, Tumis Masquerade Group, Winneba,Ghana 2009. © Phyllis Galembo.
Phyllis Galembo, Four Children in Fancy Dress, Nobles Masquerade Group, Winneba, Ghana 2009. © Phyllis Galembo.
John Kweku Bondzie Sey wears a Cowgirl costume by Louis Abeaku Yamoah for Red Cross No. 4 Fancy Dress group, Masquefest 2012, Winneba. Photo Courtnay Micots.
Ghana Herald, Performer Nana Poku Kwabena, Masquefest 2017, Winneba, Egyaa No. 2, Tailor Louis Abeaku Yamoah & Nana Poku Kwabena. Photo Courtesy of Courtnay Micots.
Cowgirl, performer Kizito Arthur, a.k.a. Paa Kwesi, Masquefest 2017, Winneba, Tumus No. 3. Tailor Okus Tailor (company). Photo Courtesy of Courtnay Micots.
Cowgirl, performer Kizito Arthur, a.k.a. Paa Kwesi, Masquefest 2017, Winneba, Tumus No. 3. Tailor Okus Tailor (company). Photo Courtesy of Courtnay Micots.
Simple Dress, Old Man, Perfromer Kodwo Francis Coker, Saltpond, Chinese, Tailor Kodwo Francis Coker, 2016. Photo Courtesy of Courtnay Micots.
Wedding Girl, Performer Richard Bentum, a.k.a Uncle Joe, Masquefest 2017, Winneba, Tumus No.3, Tailor Augustina Mensah. Photo Courtesy of Courtnay Micots.
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