Stevenson Johannesburg presents Life on Earth, a solo exhibition by Barthélémy Toguo.
This exhibition is the first occasion in which Toguo exhibits a series of mosaic works reminiscent of the large-scale murals that cover the walls of Bandjoun Station. This centre of the arts was conceived by the artist in 1999 in the heart of Cameroon, and since 2007 has served as a platform for creative and agricultural activities, in response to what Toguo terms ‘the failure of cultural projects on the African continent’.
One of the first institutions of its kind, the centre is a kunsthalle, townhall and resource centre, and it is both an incubator of Toguo’s ideas and an extension of his practice. Toguo discovers another life when he is in the community and his work has to be about the people and the community.
The exhibition is concurrent with two major presentations by Toguo in the French city of Nantes. Expression(s) décoloniale(s)#3, at the Nantes History Museum, acts as an amplifier of the artist’s deep social concerns, and to this end.
