Multiple Galleries
This place will complete the network of galleries and foundations that stretches each year along the edge of the Ebrié lagoon. In March, the country's first contemporary art museum opened in the popular commune of Abobo, north of Abidjan. It was financed and built by Adama Toungara, a public official who is also one of the country's largest private collectors.
While contemporary art showcases are multiplying in Abidjan - there are now around ten - the local market is also developing. In the absence of reports or quantified studies, all professionals in the field interpret the slightest signals as confirmation of a growing market. "The occasional or permanent return of Ivorian artists is a sure sign," says Mimi Errol, artistic director of the Houkamy Guyzagn gallery and one of the only art critics and curator in the country.
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The critic cites Ouattara Watts as an example, the prodigal son who left to live in the United States some thirty years ago and returned in 2018 for an exhibition. His compatriots, the sculptor Jems Robert Koko Bi and the visual artist Ernest Dükü, have also initiated returns, confirming the existence of market outlets for their productions.
In fact, during the 2018 exhibition, Ouattara Watts's works sold well, at prices ranging from 40,000 to 120,000 euros depending on the piece. "Some of her works were acquired by local collectors", confides Cécile Fakhoury, who hosted the exhibition in her gallery opened in 2012. Accustomed to major international art meetings, the young French gallery owner, who represents many numerous Ivorian and West African artists, has a second gallery in Dakar and a showroom in Paris. The first years, 90% of its turnover was made abroad but, today, she specifies, "without being at 50/50, there is an important rebalancing which took place" . And if there is no boom, "the upward trend in the local market is evident."
While the market is growing, its dynamism remains to be confirmed over time. To increase its notoriety, should an international event be organized in Abidjan? "Too early, the market is not yet mature enough," says a collector accustomed to great artistic raids. And a biennial? "The one in Dakar is very good and does the job," he adds, a little jaded. Other industry professionals, more enterprising and enthusiastic, are nevertheless planning an international auction in the coming months.
For Mimi Errol, a fine connoisseur of the field, “for ten years, the market has grown organically, gradually and resiliently despite political and health crises”. Better, Abidjan manages to "bring back its artists, to keep the youngest and to attract those from the sub-region", rejoices the art critic behind his desk. "But we have to move slowly, otherwise there is a great risk of seeing young artists giving in to the sirens of the market to the detriment of the creativity that is the soul of Abidjan," he adds.
Yassin Ciyow (Abidjan) ~ Superbe, Merci Beaucoup.
