The 8th edition of the fair dedicated to contemporary African art offers new talents and new perspectives

Diverted materials and new techniques have once again arrived at AKAA, a fair dedicated to contemporary art produced by Africa and its diasporas. The 2023 edition brings together 119 artists from 39 countries. Franceinfo Culture takes you to meet some of those exhibited for the first time at the Carreau du Temple, in Paris.

Never without my blowtorch

“My approach is centered on recycling”, confides Chadian artist Appolinaire Guidimbaye, aka DOFF. Since 2014, he has been recycling paxalu, a tar-based coating which comes in the form of a black material wrapped in a layer of aluminum. THE “material is used for waterproofing roof terraces”, he explains. In DOFF’s paintings, the aluminum becomes golden. Nothing is painted there, except for the frames which are blackened. To obtain his creations which take shape using a blowtorch, he fuses with paxalu, newspaper or plastic residue to obtain colors. “Everything is done with a blowtorch”, insists this autodidact who grew up in a family of artists. The essence of his work is illustrated in his series “Black Beyond Darkness”.

Places of remembrance

The names of his works are GPS coordinates which refer to the places where the memories evoked occurred. The Egyptian Mustafa El Husseiny maps his memory in his own way, reconstituting it like a puzzle and producing virtual maps, memories of those he drew during his military service. At the origin of his project “Memory Flow”, loss of photos stored on a disk. Its production remains mysterious like this portrait of a woman who can be guessed at.

Everyday stories

Isaac Zavale began painting posters in the townships at an early age. This allowed him, from the age of 14, to financially support his family who had fled the war in Mozambique to take refuge in South Africa. His expertise is now a technique that the artist uses to illustrate the daily lives of his fellow citizens in paintings in bright colors and full of details. Ejozi kwamazenzela, which means “do it yourself” in Zulu, illustrates the “D” system in Joburg (Johannesburg), the largest South African city.

Information bias

Roméo Temwa is one of the 8 artists revealed at AKAA by the joint project carried by Bandjoun Station (an initiative of the famous Cameroonian artist Barthélémy Toguo) and the French Institute of Cameroon, “Talents237”. Perfect sketches which are then deconstructed, such is the unique technique of young Roméo Temwa. “It’s a kind of therapy for me,” confides the one who, through his works, points “media manipulation” which results in “a mental and psychological deconstruction”. His work, he explains, is inspired by that of the American linguist Noam Chomsky. The decried phenomenon, produced according to him, “an absence of reflection and a desire to revolt” illustrated in The damned idiots.

Bark paper

Ugandan Sheila Nakitende transforms bark cloth, from a centuries-old practice in Uganda and listed as UNESCO intangible heritage, into paper which she then uses as a support for her works. By working with this material, the artist invests a domain reserved for men because it is they who make this textile with highly symbolic significance. On this paper “fragile like a human being”Sheila Nakitende produced Tree Dance (the tree dances). Like a tree, men and women can be shaken by life and each resists the ups and downs of existence as best they can, the work reminds us.

Blazing resistance

“I was born in Zimbabwe of British stock, Scottish English family. But I have no roots in England today. One hundred years in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Naturalized French through painting. Now I live in London”. It is in these terms that Duncan Wylie defines himself. Her “mental baggage” East both African “because’ (he has) grown up At Zimbabwe” and European. His painting serves to bring together these two dimensions of his personality. It results “something very colorful, very physical, well studied but also very relaxed”. His series “The Sappers and the Tsunami”, which expresses the fact of “defy the circumstances” as his compatriots did in the face of the authoritarian regime of Robert Mugabe (former president of Zimbabwe), shows. We find there The Sapeur and The Tsunami (Flamingo) [le sapeur et le tsunami (Flamingo)]. The central figure in the painting is dressed in pink and he stands like a pink flamingo. “It defies abstraction“. “Painting, for me, is a challenge. Every artist must defy his circumstances”summarizes the Zimbabwean artist.

Community of destiny

Using cotton canvas and acrylic paint, generally matte, Bienvenue Fotso emphasizes in his work “the community of destiny between man and nature”. “For it to be effective, continues the Cameroonian artist present at the AKAA show thanks to the “Talents237” project (from the French Institute of Cameroon and Bandjoun Station), “Man must be aware of the environment in which he lives. His works tell “a nature that invades the buildings, a metaphor to say that if nature were to be unleashed, it would take precedence over man.” In her series “Fipangrass” (term to designate the use of traditional medicine in Cameroon), she is interested in traditional medicinal knowledge neglected on the African continent and which she wishes to see rehabilitated. In The lawyer of the heart, it recalls all the virtues of this fruit and the tree that produces it.

The power of women

Painted textile on which rests a woven and dyed palm leaf: it is Akwantukɛsaɛ. The work evokes “our journey on earth”, says Theresah Ankomah. The journey continues in a universe that still remains unknown to humanity, she notes. Inspired by environmental issues, the Ghanaian is also sensitive to the commitment of women in her country and in Africa. Women who provide for their families and are always serving the community. It is from some that the Ghanaian artist obtains palm leaves, the ones they use to make baskets. Sold, they will be a resource of income made available to their loved ones.

Winning return

After photography and rap, Ras Sankara became a performer in 2015. A pioneer in Togo, his native country, where he initiated a festival dedicated to artistic practice and he plans to create the first performance school on the African continent. Here, in front of the Slave House of Agbodrafo (a coastal town in the South), he evokes “the Renaissance (of Africa), (THE) return from his diaspora”. "I stood before this door, witnessing slavery," dressed like a king to signify the surpassing that is required of Africans despite the stigma of slavery, he underlines. .

In my dream country

The decor dominated by pink, bling bling and kitsch that April Bey recreates is that of Atlantica. This futuristic world created by the Bahamian is free of racism, femicide or even mysogyny. Likewise, marginalized communities can express themselves freely. Tapestry, embroidery and photography are among the techniques she uses to tell this imaginary universe. In this triptych dedicated to a resident of Atlantica, we find all the codes of the artist including the mysterious pineapple produced in this parallel world. This work is “a metaphor around taking up space in public space while feeling authorized and safe”.

AKAA 2023 (Also Know As Africa) at Carreau du Temple
4 rue Eugène Spuller, 75003 Paris
Hours: October 20, 2023 and October 21, 2023: 12:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. / October 22, 2023: 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Prices: 16 euros (full price) – 11 euros (half price)