As we prepare our forthcoming issue, we are pleased to introduce the cultural context behind Philip Chijioke Izunegbu’s article, “Staying Put: Masquerade, Memory, and Spatial Resistance in Urbanising Igbo Communities.”
This spotlight offers readers a brief introduction to Ijele masquerade performance and provides selected resources through which to explore the movement, scale, music, and ceremonial presence discussed in the article.
Ijele Masquerade and Cultural Memory
Ijele masquerade is a significant performance tradition associated with Igbo cultural life in southeastern Nigeria. Its visual scale, choreographic movement, musical accompaniment, and communal setting make it a rich example of performance as cultural memory.
In Izunegbu’s forthcoming article, Ijele is examined not simply as spectacle, but as a situated practice through which communities negotiate memory, place, and belonging amid processes of urbanisation. The article considers how masquerade performance moves through ancestral village squares and increasingly compressed spatial environments, turning “staying put” into an embodied strategy of cultural continuity and spatial resistance.
Forthcoming Article
Philip Chijioke Izunegbu’s “Staying Put: Masquerade, Memory, and Spatial Resistance in Urbanising Igbo Communities” explores how masquerade performance can become a form of spatial negotiation. Rather than treating tradition as something displaced by urbanisation, the article asks how embodied performance practices continue to inhabit, mark, and transform communal space.
The full article is expected to appear in our forthcoming issue.
Explore the Cultural Context
Readers may wish to explore the following resources for further cultural and visual context:
Official Video & Cultural Context (UNESCO Open-Access Archive):
Official UNESCO Inscription Portal: https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/ijele-masquerade-00194 (Provides an authoritative global background on the masking tradition).
UNESCO Archival Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpCPPiae4yU (An excellent public-interest video showcasing the immense 12-to-15-foot physical scale and traditional choreography discussed in the article).
High-Resolution Visual Assets (Creative Commons Repository):
Wikimedia Commons Ijele Gallery: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ijele_Masquerade (Contains open-source images suitable for an eye-catching homepage layout banner or feature thumbnail, usable with standard photographer credit).
Sonic & Rhythmic Companion Reading (Open-Access):
ResearchGate Article Link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/390454819 (Links directly to the open-access paper by Ojukwu and Esimone on Igba Ijele cultural music cited in my bibliography, providing readers with immediate sonic context).
Submissions Welcome
We welcome submissions that engage with performance, cultural memory, visual culture, spatial practice, media, literature, and related fields. Please see our Call for Papers for further information.