Xeni on the road in West Africa: Beninese Artist Romuald Hazoumé

While I was in Benin over the last couple of weeks, a local BB reader pointed me to some interesting contemporary artists from this region. Probably the most well-known of these, internationally, is a man named Romuald Hazoumé who transforms salvaged materials into symbols of spiritual power.

Hazoumé has residences in the capital city of Cotonou, and in nearby Porto Novo near the Nigerian border. He is of Yoruba ancestry (which means his grand-folks were from Nigeria, I presume), and grew up in a Catholic family, but like many Beninois, also lives in touch with his voudun roots.

Starting in the mid-1980s, Hazoumé began creating works made from a locally ubiquitous type of plastic container -- I've heard them referred to as "jerry cans?" Basically, you see them everywhere in Benin, used and reused and reused to store everything from palm oil to water to gasoline.

Above, images of his mask mods, using these discarded source materials. The one I've selected there is called "Walkman." Snip from his bio:

After slight modifications, these objects became masks which subtly reveal Hazoumé's critical vision of political systems. He has said of his work: “I send back to the West that which belongs to them, that is to say, the refuse of consumer society that invades us every day.”

Here's his bio, and Here's a gallery of some of the "trash masks" and some of his installation work. Below, a work by Hazoumé's from a large show in 2007 at the Victoria and Albert museum in London, borrowed from that_james' Flickr stream. The piece is called "Dan-Ayido-Houedo/Arc-En-Ciel, Symbole De Perpètuitè." (thanks, Hugo!)

• [Anonymous]

  “Perpètuitè” should instead be “Perpétuité”.

• [bbonyx]

  Millennium, anyone?

• [hohum]

  The stuff at the top doesn’t do much for me, but I am loving that ouroboros!

• [FreakCitySF]

  connect four!

  Here is my west african art, made from 1 gallon milk containers.

  http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a116/FreakCitySF/DSC01527.jpg
  http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a116/FreakCitySF/DSC01526.jpg

• [Anonymous]

  I hate outdoor art with “do not touch” signs.

  If your art is going to sit outside at ground level it needs to be able to endure some inquisitive fingers. If it can’t put it in a museum or on a pedestal.

  At the Seattle Sculpture park there is a sculpture of half a dozen probably ten foot high inch thick steel plates stuck in the ground, looking a bit like sails or whale fins. It screams to be touched, like several other works in the park. Every little kid who walks by wants to run their hand along the thing. Everyone wants to knock on it and feel the mass of all that steel.

  I say go for it kids. Knock away adults. Suck it up artist.

• [djangofan]

  This charactature so reminds me of the “Worm at the worlds end” in The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant” books.

• [Brett Burton]

  I believe the term “Jerry cans” comes from the fact that they were invented by the Germans for use in WWII. “Jerry” is a slightly derogatory slang for a German.

• [lfost]

  this reminds me of some of Willie Cole’s art. See wind mask.

• [mdh]

  anonymous @ 5

  If it can’t put it in a museum or on a pedestal.

  What’s that under the art? Oh, a pedestal, with words on it.

• [trjames]

  They’re called jerrycans in Sudan as well. The are the containers used to ship cooking oil (in Sudan I think it’s almost always peanut oil – don’t know about Benin) restaurants here in the states get their fryer oil in the very same thing.

  After they’re emptied they’re sold in the souk as a general purpose container. I bought twenty at around fifty cents each in the souk at Kariema a couple of years ago.