The Return of the Elephants
Picasso, in 1912, observing a Grebo mask from Ivory Coast, came to define one of the most important concepts in modern art: to translate a form you can use expressions that bear no relation to it. Studying African sculpture, he and other artists realized
that a simple geometric shape is able to conceptually translate what is real. They came to the conclusion that art, rather than imitate, must rewrite. In primordial expressiveness they also discovered a magical and erotic dimension.
The cocoa field (2014)
by Akim Moise Kouassi
In Ivory Coast this magic of the African land and its culture has always been felt, even in the little things. In familiar, everyday items, such as combs and slingshots.
Or, of course, in significant objects such as masks, still masterfully carved in dark wood.
Mi djavouai (My friend) (2014)
by Constant Kouakou Koffi
Since ancient times, Ivory Coast has been a crossroads for different peoples in the West African landscape. Its position linking the great forests and savannahs, extensive maritime coast and the large open valleys created by the course of the four rivers that cross the country from north to south, has enabled the meeting of multiple currents and cultural influences.
Endangered nature (2014)
by Brice Tape Douayaba
Even today, Ivory Coast has the appearance of a veritable human mosaic. Over the centuries, the sixty ethnic groups in the area, characterized by different cults and languages, have never ceased to mingle, fragment and, above all, exchange cultural traditions and artistic styles.
Dwelling destroyed by catastrophes and human be... (2014)
by Guy-Roland Gnoyere
After ten years of painful internal conflicts that have undermined what was the most developed economy in West Africa (it was once known as the ‘Switzerland of Africa’), Ivory Coast now looks to the future thanks to the strength, symbolic and tangible, of its cultures.
Tropical forest (2014)
by Idrissa Diarrassouba
At the beginning of 2014, the country took the first steps towards restoring to its national parks the elephants that had fled to neighbouring Burkina Faso during the conflict. The return of the elephant, symbol of Ivory Coast, has become the emblematic image of the country’s revival on the international scene.
African myths and mysteries (2014)
by Kattie Leandre Etchien
Ivory Coast is, in fact, turning the page with a rapid return to normality, to national reconciliation and, above all, to economic recovery. The latter is quantifiable in GDP growth, among the highest in Africa, over 8 per cent in 2013 and 2014.
Rene Tosaviss, scarface 2013 (2014)
by Laurent Diky Kouadio
The country, then again, is the largest exporter of cocoa in the world (providing 40% of global production) and the third largest producer of coffee in Africa.
And today new deposits of oil and gas discovered near the border with Ghana have increased the prospects for development in the production of hydrocarbons.
Cultural mixing (2014)
by Max-Jaures Kouassi
This economic revival is also supporting a rapid flowering of artistic experience and activity, once again the protagonists of debate and of the transformations taking place in Ivorian society.
I love you (2014)
by Valerie Oka
Paper expression (2014)
by Patrick Yapo Yapo
As the curator of this collection, Maria Laura Mascelloni, notes, “‘Art heals’, but this does not mean that its topics are necessarily light or ‘feel-good’”.
The family (2014)
by Youssouf Diagabate Salif
Portrait of a child, portrait of innocence (2014)
by Pierre Hugues Dominique
On the contrary, in the 140 10x12cm artworks in the collection, the Ivorian artists examine the conflicting relationship between Western and African cultures. They contemplate what is good and less good about economic development, in particular the embittering of human relations and the lack of respect for nature.
Uprootedness (2014)
by Rafael Blaso Ciscar
The magical dimension so beloved by Picasso is still alive, but observing the colourful mosaic of the artworks – with African Art Brut and Western inspiration, committed negritude and intellectual short circuits, arte povera and abstract art – what seem to emerge above all are the verses of the Ivorian poet and writer Bernard Binlin Dadié:
Melancholic doctor (2014)
by Saintetienne Yeanzi Lanin
“I am the man whose dreams
Are as numerous as the stars
Louder than a swarm of bees
Brighter than the smiles of children
More sonorous than echoes in the forest.”
Luciano Benetton
Newfound peace of heart (2014)
by Solange Kouadio Attou
