With support from the Ebrahim Hussein Fellowship and the Aliko Songolo Award, Opeyemi Salami, Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of African Cultural Studies at UW-Madison, conducted fieldwork and archival research in Lagos, Ibadan, and Ijebu, Nigeria, during the summer of 2025. His project explores how Yoruba masquerades, ritual figures that embody both ancestors and deities, are being remediated in contemporary Nigerian screen media.
“Although masquerades have long adapted and transformed within Yoruba communities, their appearance in Nigerian films (Nollywood) raises new questions about ritual integrity, aesthetics, and cultural ownership,” he explains.
To better understand these changes, he interviewed community leaders, filmmakers, and everyday Lagosians, and visited shrines and museums. He observed “sharp tensions between traditional gatekeepers who resist cinematic representations and filmmakers who creatively reimagine masquerades for broader audiences.”
Salami’s research bridges the worlds of ritual, art, and media, examining how traditional practices evolve in the digital age.
“I contend that remediation in film neither liberates nor diminishes ritual traditions but instead creates new ritual and aesthetic paradigms that must be approached with care, respect for heritage, and a commitment to social justice,” he writes.
Opeyemi’s summer fieldwork represents the kind of bold, globally engaged scholarship made possible by donor support through the Aliko Songolo Summer Research Award, an award established in honor of Professor Emeritus Aliko Songolo and his many years of dedicated teaching and service to the department.
By supporting this award during Fill the Hill from October 9-10, 2025, donors help fuel transformative student research that deepens understanding of African cultural expression and connects the UW–Madison community to the vibrant traditions shaping the African continent and its global influence.
