In terms of contemporary art, the Ivorian economic capital has long been fertile ground. After going through the years of crisis and conflict, the city is getting a makeover, and more and more contemporary art galleries and foundations are springing up on the shores of the Ebrié lagoon. Places that share and encourage contemporary African and Ivorian creation, while seeking to open it up to as many people as possible, starting with the MuCAT, Museum of Contemporary Cultures Adama Toungara, inaugurated in 2020 in the popular district of Abobo, located north of Abidjan.
Painters, sculptors, performers and visual artists, many of whom came from the School of Fine Arts in Abidjan, then found spaces to exhibit, sell their works and live from their art, following in the footsteps of their illustrious elders Ouattara Watts, Ernest Dükü or Jems Koko Bi… Because in Abidjan, there is money and fortunes capable of acquiring paintings and sculptures, of collecting, in an international market that is increasingly eyeing Africa.
From the business district of Plateau, to Abobo, passing through the chic and green district of Cocody, let’s follow Vladimir Cagnolari left to take the pulse of Abidjan Arty. From workshops to street-art exhibitions, from vernissages to gallery inaugurations, Abidjan is zo! A report by Vladimir Cagnolari.
Learn more :
– On the MuCAT, Museum of Contemporary Cultures Adama Toungara located in Abobo
– On the work of the Ivorian artist Painter Obou
– On the Donwahi Foundation for Contemporary Art opened in 2008 in Cocody
– On the Rotunda of the arts, another essential address in Abidjan, run by Yacouba Konaté, a figure in the arts in Côte d’Ivoire
– On the Unique Piece Gallery / BJKD Foundation recently inaugurated.
Show originally aired on October 17, 2021.