Every historical narrative is a construction and an expression of a viewpoint on oneself and on others. History museums are no exception to this rule. Exhibiting a collection\u2019s objects is akin to presenting the perception that the collectors had of themselves and of others over time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a moment when we are rethinking the history of Humanity as an interconnected one on a global scale, it is essential to point out that many of the objects and documents on display in museums today are intrinsically imbued with a colonial perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an attempt to understand exactly how these pieces were seen when they were acquired, to distance ourselves from them, to question them and measure their impact on us \u2013 both in what we know and how we imagine things \u2013 the Mus\u00e9e d’histoire de Nantes<\/strong>, as part of the third edition of Expression(s) d\u00e9coloniale(s)<\/em>, has once again invited an historian and an artist from the African continent to dialogue with the museum’s collections.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Internationally renowned Cameroonian artist Barth\u00e9l\u00e9my Toguo <\/strong>will invest the museum\u2019s rooms with his work, which shows an unfailing commitment to questioning the major issues of our time, while also establishing a dazzling relationship between past and present. Themes exploring the fundamental imbalances of the world we live in, the structural imbalances of exchange that characterize it, and the inequal opportunities and multiple discriminations resulting from them<\/strong>, make his work eminently contemporary and political. Questions revolving around cultural memory are also present in his work, but do not prevent a celebration of the fundamental power of life, as vigorous as it is unexpected. Prolific and generous, Toguo will present some twenty works throughout the Mus\u00e9e d’Histoire de Nantes\u2019 permanent collection, adding a new imperative to this year\u2019s edition: the need to act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Barth\u00e9l\u00e9my Toguo was born in Cameroon in 1967. He studied at various art schools in Ivory Coast, France, and Germany, and now lives between Paris and Bandjoun, where he founded an innovative space that combines an art school, a cultural centre, and a farm in 1999 called \u201cBandjoun Station\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Internationally renowned today, his work is shown the world over in a great variety of forms, combining both the most robust and the most fragile materials. Each of his productions bears witness to his early and constant commitment to defending the great humanitarian and ecological causes of our time while giving a voice to the voiceless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the spirit of hospitality, Toguo wanted to associate five artists with this year\u2019s edition at the Mus\u00e9e d’Histoire de Nantes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Bocl\u00e9<\/strong> (Martinique), Moreira Chongui\u00e7a<\/strong> (Mozambique), Rosana Paulino <\/strong>(Brazil), Monica Toiliye<\/strong> (Democratic Republic of Congo), Kara Walker<\/strong> (USA), have come to join him. Painters, video artists, sculptors or performers or musiciens, each of them has found their place in the museum\u2019s spaces, and their resonance with history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Legacy, memory, pain, and historical scars are addressed through their work. But so is the victory over them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another form of confrontation with reality takes place in their presence; another dialogue is born out of their encounter, which does not exclude any part of our sensitivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another confrontation with reality takes place in their presence. Another dialogue is born through this encounter \u2013 one that spares no part of our sensitivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Historian Fran\u00e7ois Wassouni \u2013 a specialist in the history of violence and a lecturer in contemporary history<\/strong> at the University of Maroua in Cameroon \u2013 will present roughly ten new captions for objects that are emblematic of Nantes\u2019 and France\u2019s colonial history, which resonate with his research topics and his approach to questions of national memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Curator: Krystel Guald\u00e9 (Scientific Director of the Mus\u00e9e d\u2019histoire de Museum)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":12710,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[1169],"tags":[],"indications-recherche":[],"class_list":["post-12639","exposition","type-exposition","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exhibition"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n