Romuald Hazoumè

Romuald Hazoumé descends from a prestigious lineage: his ancestor was a babalawo, high priest of the fâ from Nigera at the court of the king of Porto Novo. He grew up in a Catholic family of Yoruba origin who remained in contact with the cult of ancestors, such as voodoo, a practice that deeply marked him. After a high school education during which he discovered a passion for drawing, he wanted to study medicine for a while, but he decided to become an artist.

Because of his dual cultural background, Romuald Hazoumè's work, which does not strictly speaking follow the Yoruba tradition, reveals a syncretism based on recycled materials. In the mid-1980s, he created his first sculptures of plastic drums, which subtly reveal his critical vision of African political figures and systems. He became a prominent figure in Cotonou and Porto-Novo, and in 1989 exhibited Masques Bidons I at the French Cultural Center in Cotonou.

Romuald Hazoumè assembles materials, scraps and obsolete objects, which he uses as they are or which he shapes or deforms, to represent his vision of society, events or global problems. The artist reinvents history and his research which translates into monumental and striking works, and testifies to his commitment against all forms of slavery, corruption, trafficking and current abuses.

Submitted by Magnin-A