Lisa Homann

Lisa Homann is an Associate Professor of Art History at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte), affiliated with the Department of Art & Art History in the College of Arts + Architecture (COAA). She holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Art History from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Her research focuses on West African masquerade practices from the late 19th century to the present, emphasizing creative innovation, ethical methodologies, patronage, performance, and Muslim identities in art.

She co-authored a $500,000 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Implementation Grant for the traveling exhibition New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations, set to debut at the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) in Spring 2025. This exhibition explores contemporary African artists working with masquerade traditions, including Hervé Youmbi (Cameroon), Chief Ekpenyong Bassey Nsa (Nigeria), David Sanou (Burkina Faso), and Sheku Fofanah (Sierra Leone). A concurrent version will travel across West African institutions.

Her current book project, Visibly Muslim: White Mask Performance in Southwestern Burkina Faso, examines how masquerade aesthetics and performances negotiate Islamic identity, challenging perceived binaries between Islam and African art. Homann serves on the editorial board for the journal African Arts and has published in African Arts, Res, and Africa. Her video documentation of ephemeral masquerades is preserved in the North Carolina Museum of Art’s permanent collection.