MESCHAC GABALE MONDE

6 JUNE – 20 JULY 2013

MESCHAC GABALE MONDE

Texts by the artist

2

ENSEMBLE

I started thinking about this work when I was invited to

participate in We Face Forward, a survey exhibition of art

from West Africa and the Diaspora, in Manchester in 2012.

I didn’t know what I was going to say about West Africa

or its cultural development. All that came to mind was

to complete the original phrase by Kwame Nkrumah, the

leader and liberator of Ghana – ‘We Face Forward Towards

Development’ – and to ask myself some questions: what

do we face, and how? As an answer to this I fused the flags

of all the West African countries together with the flag of

the United Kingdom, so that it became a symbol of unity, of

solidarity and friendship; a proposal that, even though there

are dramas and problems between us, we can meet in unity

and solidarity. In my new flag, each flag is elongated into a

triangle, a symbol of trinity and unity.

Ensemble

2012

Inkjet print on synthetic canvas

140 x 240cm

Edition of 3 + 1AP

Ensemble, 2012, installation view, We Face Forward, Manchester Art Gallery

Photo: Jan Dixon and Emily Dixon, WeAreTAPE.com

4

CITOYEN DU MONDE

Made for the 2012 Benin Biennale

This work evolved out of the composite flag Ensemble. The

optical spectacle created by elongating each individual

flag into a narrow triangle, converging on a central point,

inspired me to create a world flag that is a composite of

all countries’ flags and again is symbolic of a togetherness

that can resolve the difficulties and crises that proliferate

across our world. The singularity of each flag is lost in the

rhythm of the composition, as is the case with countries

in the age of globalisation where the national is absorbed

into the international. The idealism and humour of these

two huge flags, Ensemble and Citoyen du Monde, infuse

a playfulness into our perceptions of the world – in turn,

making the world a better place for us all.

Citoyen du Monde

2012

Inkjet print on synthetic canvas

300 x 500cm

Edition of 3 + 1AP

6

Globalloon

2013

Commercial inkjet ink on nylon

500cm diameter

Edition of 3 + 1AP

Installation view, Art Basel Unlimited, June 2013

8

VOYAGES

Made for the 2012 Benin Biennale

For Voyages, I wrapped flags into bundles, tied each bundle

to a wooden cane, and laid these out on the wooden

pallets that I often use in installations. The flags, all made

by women dressmakers from Cotonou, are from countries

and confederations that have worldwide influence: the

European Union, United States, African Union, Vatican,

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato), China, United

Kingdom, United Nations, Arabic League, Israel, Brazil

and Tibet. The wooden canes can be seen as pilgrims’

sticks or as the defensive weapons of nomadic pastors

which metaphorically signify the defensive object of the

contemporary traveller: the passport.

Voyages

2012

UN, Brazil, League of Arab States, China, Nato, Vatican, AU, UK, USA, EU,

Tibetan and Israeli flags, wooden pallets, wooden sticks

Dimensions variable

Voyages, 2012, installation view, Benin Biennale

10

Installation view of Le Monde with Citoyen du Monde, Voyages

and Ensemble, 2013

12

Musee de l'Art de la Vie Active

2010/11

Stills from video of performance, Cotonou, Benin

MUSÉE DE L’ART DE LA VIE ACTIVE

Dear curators, artist-writers, art journalists,

art critics,

MAVA, short for Musée de l’Art de la Vie Active, is a recent

art project that I initiated in December 2010 in Cotonou,

Benin, as a performance and exhibition across the city

of Cotonou. I declared the city of Cotonou as Musée de

l’Art de la Vie Active. MAVA in the Benin Mina language

means ‘Come On!’ MAVA was launched as a performance

with a parade of braided wigs in the form of historic icons,

reflecting historic, political, cultural and economic points of

attention in history. MAVA also represents a development

project for the city of Cotonou in particular, and for Benin in

general. During the presentation of the project to the press

Chers curateurs, artistes écrivains, journalistes d’art,

critiques d’art,

MAVA, le Musée de l’Art de la Vie Active, est un project

qui a commencé en décembre 2010 à Cotonou, Benin,

comme une performance et exposition à travers la ville

de Cotonou, étant consacré pour la circonstance comme

un Musée de l’Art de la Vie Active. MAVA dans la langue

Mina veut dire ‘Je viens? Viens!’. MAVA a commencé par

une parade de perruques en forme d’icônes historiques,

reflétant des attractions historiques, politiques, culturelles

et economiques. MAVA répresente un projet de

développement pour la ville de Cotonou en particulier et

pour tout le Benin en général. Au cours de la présentation

Musee de l'Art de la Vie Active

2010/11

Banner from performance, Cotonou, Benin

53 x 150cm

14

and media in 2010, I also announced the development of an

international MAVA art residency project. The principal goal

and mission of MAVA is to participate in the development of

contemporary art and art education in Benin.

The upcoming ‘MAVA Library Residency’ will start

in January/February 2013, but will be launched as ‘MAVA

Bibliothèque Pilot’ as part of the Benin Biennale opening

8 November 2012 in Cotonou. This will inaugurate the first

contemporary art library in West Africa. The library collection

will consist of art books coming from my ‘Library’ which was

part of my Museum of Contemporary African Art, which

began at Witte de With in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in

2000, with a collection of art books coming from many

different artists, curators and museums. This library was

shown in Kassel during Documenta 11, where the collection

increased with art books donated by participating artists and

others, in 2002. Now 10 years later, the library collection has

been increased again by the gift of art books donated by the

Centre Pompidou and the Bibliothèque Kandinsky in Paris.

These are the collections that have built up the MAVA art

library so far. For the upcoming ‘MAVA Library Residency’ in

the beginning of 2013 there will be 5-6 invited international

artists including artists from Benin and West Africa working

together in Cotonou for a month on the theme of ‘library’.

In the context of the second edition of the MAVA project

presenting its contemporary art library I will organize a

performance called Bibliothèque Roulante (Moving Library).

To realize this performance we will need a collection of short

quotations and phrases about contemporary art written/

published by curators, artist writers, museum directors,

du project à la presse et aux medias in 2010, nous avons

initié de développer aussi une MAVA artistes résidence

internationale. Le principal but de ce projet est de participer

au développement et l’education artistique sur l’art

contemporain au Bénin.

Le MAVA Bibliothèque Résidence est un projet

qui va commencer en janvier/février 2013, mais va

commencer comme MAVA Bibliothèque Pilote dans le

cadre de la Biennale Benin le 8 novembre 2012 à Cotonou.

Ce sera la prémière bibliothèque d’art contemporain en

Afrique de l’Ouest. Ce sont des livres d’art du Musée d’Art

Contemporain Africain qui commence à Witte de With

Rotterdam en 2000 avec le collecte de livres d’art chez

des artistes, curateurs et musées, et aussi a été montré à

Kassel Dokumenta 11, ou la collection a augmenté avec des

livres d’art des artistes du Dokumenta 11 et autres en 2002.

Maintenant le collection de livres a été augmenté par le

don de livres d’art du Centre Pompidou et la Bibliothèque

Kandinsky à Paris. C’est cela qui fais la Bibliothèque

d’Art MAVA pour le résidence. Il y aura 5 à 6 artistes

internationaux invités y compris des artistes Beninois et

Africains pour travailler ensemble à Cotonou durant une

mois sur le thème ‘bibliothèque’.

Dans le cadre de la second édition du projet MAVA,

le Musée de l’Art de la Vie Active, qui développer le projet

de la bibliothèque d’art contemporain à Cotonou, Benin,

cette bibliothèque qui va normalement s’inaugurée

avec la résidence MAVA entre janvier-février 2013. Cette

bibliothèque se présentera comme MAVA Bibliothèque

Pilote dans la Biennale Benin qui commencera

Musee de l'Art de la Vie Active: Bibliothèque Roulante

2012

Detail

[continues on p18]

16

Musee de l'Art de la Vie Active: Bibliothèque Roulante

2012

65 licence plates, digital video, motorbike

Installation dimensions variable

18

art journalists and art critics. This is the reason why I am

contacting you now. I would like to ask you to send me a

short quotation or phrase once published by yourself. These

quotations will be presented on the licence plates of a large

number of motorbike taxi drivers in Cotonou, replacing their

licence registration numbers. The quotations can have a

maximum length of 5-10 words, but can even be 3 or 4 words.

Also I will need the complete reference of the quotations,

where you have published it before, such as exhibition

catalogues, artists books, articles, newspapers, together with

your name or initials, which will be mentioned in the licence

plates of the taxi drivers as well. The quotations will need to

be in English or French. The taxi drivers will drive around with

these licence plates containing quotations about art during

the whole period of the Benin Biennale. Eventually these

licence plates will be rented from these taxi drivers for the

whole duration of the biennale for a modest payment. It is the

idea to make the city community of Cotonou participate in

contemporary art, because the taxi drivers with their plates

will also talk about the project and about the biennale, so

it becomes a form of mobile communication; it is also the

idea to bring art to a city public who normally do not read

exhibition catalogues or art books. This could also stimulate

people to visit the MAVA art library as well as the biennale.

It is a mobile library. After the Benin Biennale these licence

plates with their quotations that were driven around by the

taxi motor bikes will be exhibited somewhere in another form.

I would like to ask you to send my request also

to other people who you think might be interested to

participate with a phrase on contemporary art for my

Bibliothèque Roulante in Cotonou, Benin.

Kind regards,

Meschac Gaba

8 novembre 2012 au janvier 2013 au cours de la Biennale.

Il y aura une performance appele Bibliothèque Roulante.

Pour réaliser cette performance nous aurons besoin

de phrases de citations de curateurs, artistes écrivains,

journalistes d’art, et critiques d’art. C’est pour cela que

je vous contacte pour vous demander de me donner

une phrase, une citation venant de vous. Des phrases ou

citations seront écrire dur des plaques de taxi motos à

la place des numéros. Cette phrase ou citation peut-être

de 5 à 10 mots aux maximum, mais cela peut-être aussi

4 ou 3 mots, mais je veux avoir la réference complète du

phrase, du catalogue d’art, journal d’art ou autres, et aussi

votre nom ou initiales qui sera mentionner au dessous des

textes sur les plaques. La phrase ou le citation doit être en

Anglais ou en Francais. Les taxi-motos vont rouler avec les

plaques avec les citations ou phrases artistiques durant

toute la periode de la Biennale Benin, éventuellement ces

plaques sont louer chez les taxi motos durant la période

de la Biennale pour une somme modeste. C’est une idée

de faire participer la communauté à l’art contemporain,

car ces taxi-motos qui auront ces plaques sur leurs motos

vont aussi parler du projet et aussi de la Biennale. C’est de

la communication véhiculer. C’est aussi une idée d’amener

l’art à un public qui ne lie pas normalement les catalogues

de l’art ou livres d’art. Cela peut amener le public à

visiter la Bibliothèque MAVA et aussi la Biennale. C’est

une bibliothèque ambulante. Après la Biennale Benin les

plaques avec les phrases vont être montrer sous

une autre forme.

Je vous démanderai de l’envoyer aussi à d’autres

personnes que vous pensez peut-être interessé.

Cordialement,

Meschac GabaSeptember 2012 Septembre 2012

Musee de l'Art de la Vie Active: Bibliothèque Roulante

Stills from video

20

LE MONDE EN MINIATURE

ET LA MODE EN MINIATURE

I conceived Le Monde en Miniature et la Mode en

Miniature for a group exhibition curated by Claudia Banz

– the exhibition did not materialise but I made the work

nonetheless. The installation takes the form of a shop

display of babies’ and children’s clothes, all made in

Cotonou, Benin, and displayed on painted dummies, also

from Cotonou. There are also some child mannequins

dressed in combat clothes like playful child soldiers. At

first glance, the installation appears childlike, the fashions

sweet, but a closer look reveals that the embroidered texts

on the colourful clothes are words and phrases that are

violent, disturbing and disconcerting, a quiet reminder of

phenomena in our society that turn children into vulnerable

victims. The context of a shop-like space is also a thread

running through my work where I play with ideas of cultural

exchange and value.

Le Monde en Miniature et la Mode en Miniature

2008

Cardboard figures, mannequins, children’s clothing

Installation dimensions variable

22

CAPE TOWN

Buchanan Building

160 Sir Lowry Road

Woodstock 7925

PO Box 616

Green Point 8051

T +27 (0)21 462 1500

F +27 (0)21 462 1501

JOHANNESBURG

62 Juta Street

Braamfontein 2001

Postnet Suite 281

Private Bag x9

Melville 2109

T +27 (0)11 403 1055/1908

F +27 (0)86 275 1918

info@stevenson.info

www.stevenson.info

Catalogue 73

July 2013

© 2013 for works & texts by Meschac Gaba: the artist

Front cover Citoyen du Monde, 2012 (detail)

Design Gabrielle Guy

Photography Mario Todeschini, Kabelo Malatsie

Printing Hansa Print, Cape Town

BIOGRAPHY

Meschac Gaba was born in 1961 in Cotonou, Benin. He

studied at the Rijksakademie voor Beeldende Kunsten

in Amsterdam in 1996-97 and currently lives and works

between Cotonou and Rotterdam. His work was included in

Documenta 11 in 2002 and the Liverpool Biennial in 2010,

and has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the Museum

de Paviljoens, Almere; the Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel;

the Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas; and the

Nobel Peace Center, Oslo. In July to September 2013 Tate

Modern, London, presents Gaba’s Museum of Contemporary

African Art (1997–2002), an immersive 12-room installation

which fuses art and daily life, questioning the nature of the

museum and perceptions of African art. Constructed over a

five-year period, it invites visitors to see and interact with a

vast array of objects and environments. This exhibition is the

first time the Museum has been shown in its entirety in the

UK and also marks Tate’s acquisition of the work.