Masquerade in Motion | A Community Celebration at the MFA

Follow the beat and step into the vibrant world of masquerade at this free, family-friendly community celebration outside of the museum walls. Through live performance, artmaking, music, dance, and drumming, you’ll discover the creativity, innovation, and living traditions shaping contemporary masquerade.

Get moving with a dynamic performance by the Kuumba Dancers & Drummers followed by an interactive dance and drumming workshop, where everyone can find the rhythm together.

Offering a distinctly local vision of masquerade, St. Petersburg artist iBOMS (Jabari Reed-Diop) makes a special appearance with his original masquerade, Tufani: Lion of the Florida Wilds, inspired by Florida’s powerful storm systems and influenced by Egungun masquerade traditions of the Yoruba and Zangbeto traditions of Benin, Togo, and Nigeria.

Keep the creativity going and make something of your own! Create colorful wearable adornments, design your own rhythm shaker, and transform the energy of music and dance into visual art through movement-inspired drawing activities led by the MFA’s Teen Arts Council. Let the kids get hands-on with Celine from Curious Creations Co.! Stop by her station for hands-on sensory play and kinetic art-making tailored just for little ones.

This joyful celebration invites everyone to experience the creativity, collaboration, and living traditions at the heart of the MFA’s exhibition, New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations.

Free: Registration Required