On Thursday September 29th, Christopher Roy gave a HESCAH Lecture at The Harn titled “Fifty Years of Tradition and Change in the Art of Burkina Faso.” Dr. Roy is Professor and Elizabeth M. Stanley Faculty Fellow of African Art History at the University of Iowa. The talk focused on stability and change within the art traditions, and particularly the creation of performance art through masks, of the Mossi and others in Burkina Faso.
Within Dr. Roy’s engaging presentation on masks and performance art (incl. building materials, gods represented, events where performances take place, etc.), he also told a story of the role of performance art as a spiritual ritual as well as, at times, a development initiator. Sacred performances for initiations and funerals are the original site of these masked performances, which were never secret and could be viewed by outsiders. As more foreigners and tourists visited the land-locked nation, however, Burkinabes began to negotiate culture for development purposes as foreigners from the West would come to view these performances and often times invest in the localities. Though still religious, these performances for development typically use newer masks as compared to the older, more sacred and valuable masks used in the villages. Dr. Roy is an avid videographer and he presented numerous short clips during his presentation. You can follow his active YouTube channel here.