PREPARATORY DRAWINGS FOR THE TROPHY INSTALLATION, 2020

MUSÉE DU QUAI BRANLY EXHIBITION EX AFRICA CURATORSHIP PHILIPPE DAGEN

Why the title Trophée (Trophy)? Why "hunt for fences and gates topped with a fleur-de-lys to create this installation?" Because, the artist says : "for centuries, monuments, coins, fabrics, tapestries, sculptures, statues, works of art, paintings were marked with the fleur-de-lys". During the French Revolution, this symbol was "profaned, dismantled, vandalised, beheaded, mutilated, burnt, destroyed : an ideological purification to sacrifice everything that evoked royalty". This story is echoed today. "In 2018, the restitution of the cultural heritage of Africa is a source of debate. The word restitution implies awareness of one's own identity. All societies go through processes of destruction, restoration and construction. All have their practices of power and magic. It is therefore necessary to understand the meaning of objects of memory, too often exalted to idolatry or erased. Let's pick up the dream where we left off".