Known for bold, Chiaroscuro paintings that have again presented European art -historical masterpieces in its own similarity, Roméo Mivekannin Is interested in the Western, colonial view of Africa and the power of archives to reveal under -represented or undisted stories. Mivekannin, born on the Ivory Coast and splits his time between Toulouse, France and Cotonou, Benin. His practice interrogates visibility, possession and power dynamics through direct and weeds that span acrylic, installation and sculpture.
In Art Basel last weekend, in collaboration with Gallery Barbara Thumm And Cécile FakhouryMivekannin presented a large -scale installation entitled Atlas, Consisting of a series of metal buildings that are hung on the ceiling. Modeled to institutional buildings – in this case, museums that house enthusiastic Collections – The artist draws attention to colonialist practices and ethical gray areas that penetrate these spaces and their history.
Often founded on controversial or dubiously acquired personal collections of European urban elites, raised larger museums historically, which was seen as “primitive” or “exotic”, with a crooked view of world cultures framed by a colonialist mentality. For example, the British Museum was founded in 1753 after the death of Sir Hans Sloane, whose collection of more than 80,000 “natural and artificial rarity” provided the foundation of the institution. His wealth – and his collection – was partially collected by a slave -made work on his sugar plantations in Jamaica.
Another well -known example of problematic collections includes thousands Benin Bronzeshoused in European institutions such as the British Museum and others. British forces acquired many of these extensively decorated plaques through looting and looting in the late 19th century. Nowadays, some museums have agreed to repatriate the bronze to restore this historical indignation (the British Museum is still in discussions).
As a student of both art and architecture, Mivekannin uses the way in which certain structures and built environments are designed to convey prestige and dominance. He is currently also following a Ph.D. at the National Superior School of Architecture of Montpellier (Ensam).
In Atlas, The structures take the shape of bird cages that are hung on chains. Both elements symbolize imprisonment, compare ethnographic collections that often include human remains to what the Atlas Exhibition statement describes as ‘human zoos’. In this context, the cages must “master and exploit” the other “as a reminder of the historical practices that tried.”
Mivekannin Bridges Beyond and present in this installation and invites viewers to walk through the museums in a room that shifts the dynamics of the power. The work encourages viewers “to confront uncomfortable truths about colonial legacies and their continuous impact on our contemporary society.”
The artist scales the paleetical details from the museums to a shrinking size, shown low and taking into account a kind of meta experience of the exhibition itself. In the portrait of Mivekannin, the structures are both the cages and the cages.
A show of the artist’s paintings, Black Mirror, Can currently be seen at Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia, Italy, up to and including 27 July. See more about the artist Instagram.
