Ire Ogueche Chinasa
Barrister Ogueche Ire Chinasa was born in Adaba in Uzo Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. He studied Painting at the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu. He also studied law at the University of Nigeria (UNN) and was called to Nigerian Bar as solicitor and advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2008. He holds a masters degree in fine art from the Demontfort University, Leicester, England, United Kingdom.
Ire is currently a chief instructor in painting at the Enugu State College of Education Technical, Enugu, Nigeria. He is the CEO of Jesseyloyds African Art and Craft Gallery, Enugu, Nigeria. He has participated in many international and local art exhibitions and conferences.
Ire will be delivering a presentation entitled Masquerades and Masquerading in Adaba Community: Agents of Social Change and Control Through Art. Masquerades and masquerading in Africa are embodiments of a combination of ritualism and artistic entertainment. It is believed, among the people of Adaba community in Enugu State of Nigeria, that masquerades are spirits of the dead or deities made physically manifest by initiates of ‘manwu’ the masquerade cult.
In this program, Ire will investigage the role of masquerades and masquerading in Adaba community with regards to social changes and controls. Masquerades and masquerading are evaluated in terms of artistic activities involved in creating and bringing them to spectators’ views. As opposed to evaluation of the truism or otherwise in the claim of life after death, which govern masquerading in Adaba community, this investigation examines the functions and significance of different kinds of masks, musical instruments used, compositions of the tunes of the spirits and dance steps of masked dancers who entertain the spectators. Methods employed in the work that will be discussed include, but are not limited to, interviews and on the spot observations of masquerade festivals taking place in Adaba community and Enugu State generally.
Join us to learn more about this exciting research path and its findings.