Paris
Galerie Lelong
9 Sep → 23 Oct 2021
From Tue to Fri 10:30 am to 6 pm. Sat 2 pm to 6:30 pm. Closed Mon and Sun.
Around the idea of sharing, the artist Barthélémy Toguo draws connections between the writer Edmond Jabès and the Bamiléké people, through their common African origin, genocide, wandering and exile. Barthélémy Toguo combines a legend of the Bamiléké people relating the anger of a deity who, at nightfall, puts on large shoes and, loaded with packages, crosses the regions distributing tears, sorrow and misfortune as punishment to those who have transgressed the common values. The Bamilékés are a socio-cultural group that occupies the highlands of Western Cameroon. A Bamileke chiefdom is a kind of micro-state centralised around a powerful king who enjoys semi-divine power. As a humanist, Barthélémy Toguo appropriates the legend and readjusts it to his own values: listening, forgiveness, hospitality and sharing. Thus, divine anger becomes the driving force behind generosity, and the Bamiléké spirit, "remodelled", carries out its nocturnal wanderings in a different, calmer way. It then distributes wealth of all kinds to help lead the world towards a better destiny.