Renseignements :
In
his first solo show in the United Kingdom,
Beninese artist Romuald Hazoumé will be
transforming the October Gallery's space with
ARTicle 14, a combination of found-object installation,
moving images and vast panoramic photographs.
The hypothetical fourteenth and final article
of many African constitutions is popularly interpreted
as 'given the above rights, you'd better manage
by yourself' – hence débrouilles-toi,
toi- même, or 'look out for yourself because
no one else will', both a critical reference
to state corruption, and a popular manifesto
for individual resistance. Inspired by a concern
to reflect the realities faced daily by the people
of Benin, Hazoumé here continues his long-running
artistic dialogue about the historical and socio-political
issues affecting West African societies.
The
central installation takes a market vendor's
cart that would once have carried Coca Cola,
beer, plastic toys, jugs, footballs, brushes,
razors and pans, and subverts it into a biting
critique of the consumer encounter. Where once
hung newly manufactured products, waiting for
consumption, we now find empty shells and spent
materials – the debris of capitalist exchange.
The
exchange of commodities has for centuries defined
the point of contact between Africa and
Europe. The beginnings of an African market for
European manufactured goods stem back to the
early years of the Atlantic 'triangular trade',
when guns, alcohol and textiles were touted along
the West African coast by Europeans seeking to
acquire slaves and raw materials. Many argue
that this heralded the roots of an unequal system
of exchange that continues to this day. Hazoumé alerts
us to the history of the commodities that surround
us, and reassigns them their place within political
and social realities – a metaphor for the
vacuity of the material world, and a wake-up
call for us all.
Romuald
Hazoumé was born in 1962 in Porto-Novo,
in the Republic of Benin, where he now lives
and works. In the mid 1980s, he began sculptural
experiments with plastic jerry cans, used to
dangerously transport fuel around Benin. The
series of works that resulted received widespread
acclaim, and have featured in numerous international
exhibitions, from the Saatchi Gallery's 'Out
of Africa' to, most recently, the Menil Collection
in Texas and 'Africa Remix' at the Hayward Gallery.
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