Romuald Hazoumè Explained

Romuald Hazoumè (born 1962, Porto Novo, Republic of Dahomey) is a Yoruba artist and sculptor, from the Republic of Bénin.^{[1] [2] [3]}

He is best known for his work La Bouche du Roi, a reworking of the 1789 image of the slave ship Brookes.^[4] La Bouche du Roi was widely exhibited in the United Kingdom as part of the centenary remembrance of the Slave Trade Act 1807 by Parliament. He only uses recycled materials to create his works.

Hazoumè is also known for his mask series, which he started in the mid-1980s. These masks, made from discarded gasoline canisters, resemble those used in traditional African culture and ceremonies. In explaining these works, Hazoumè has said: “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.”^[5] Hazoumè is among the artists represented in The Contemporary African Art Collection (CAAC) of Jean Pigozzi.

Selected exhibitions

Solo

• 2012 Cargoland - October Gallery, London
• 2011 Romuald Hazoumè
• 2010 Romuald Hazoumè: My Paradise - Made in Porto Novo, Gerisch-Stiftung, Neumünster, Germany
• 2009 Romuald Hazoumè: Made in Porto-Novo, October Gallery, London
• 2009 Exit Ball, Aliceday, Brussels, Belgium
• 2008 La Bouche du Roi, Horniman Museum & Gardens, London
• 2007 La Bouche du Roi: An artwork by Romuald Hazoumè, The British Museum, London, England
• 2006 La Bouche du Roi, Musée du quai Branly, Paris, France
• 2005 Romuald Hazoumè Installation Art, CAISA (City of Helsinki Cultural Office), Helsinki, Finland
• 2005 ARTicle 14 - débrouilles-toi, toi-même, October Gallery, London
• 2001 Romuald HazoumèGalerie Olivier Houg, Lyon
• 1998 Romuald Hazoumè, Art Gallery of New South Wales,shush, Sydney, Australia
• 1997 Romuald Hazoumè, Galerie 20, Arnhem

Group

• 2010/2011 The Land Between Us, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, UK
• 2010/2011 The Global Africa Project, MAD – Museum of Arts and Design, New York
• 2010/2011 21st Century: Art in the First Decade, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia
• 2010 African Stories, Marrakech Art Fair, Marrakech
• 2009 Against Exclusion, 3rd biennale of Contemporary Art, The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Moscow, Russia
• 2008 Angaza Afrika - African Art Now, October Gallery, London
• 2008 PetrodollART, Galerie Motte et Rouard, Paris, France
• 2007/2008 Why Africa?, Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli, Turin, Italy
• 2007 UN/FAIR TRADE, Die Kunst der Gerechtigkeit, Neue Galerie Graz am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria
• 2007 From Courage to Freedom - El Anatsui / Romuald Hazoumè / Owusu-Ankomah, October Gallery, London
• 2004-2007 Africa Remix, Dusseldorf; Hayward Gallery, London; Centre pompidou, Paris; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
• 1999 Spaceship Earth, Art in General, New York
• 1999 Paradise 8, Exit Art, New York
• 1999 Liverpool Biennial: International Festival of Contemporary Art, Liverpool, UK
• 1992 Out of Africa: Contemporary African Artists from the Pigozzi Collection, Saatchi, Gallery, London

Awards and prizes

• 2009 3rd Biennale of Contemporary Art, Moscow
• 2007 Arnold-Bode-Preis, documenta 12, Kassel
• 1996 George-Maciunas-Preis, Wiesbaden

Further reading

• Andre Magnin and Jacques Soulilou (eds.), Contemporary Art of Africa, New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc, 1996.

External links

• "Romuald Hazoumè (Benin)", October Gallery website.

Notes and References

1. Book: African Art in Detail. Christopher Spring. Harvard University Press. 2009. 978-0-674-0362-22. 20.
2. Book: African art now: masterpieces from the Jean Pigozzi Collection. André Magnin. Jean C. Pigozzi. University of Michigan (Merrell). 106. 2005.
3. Web site: La Bouche du Roi: an artwork by Romuald Hazoumè . . 2008-03-06 .
4. Web site: 1807 Commemorated . 2007 . 2008-03-06 .
5. http://www.caacart.com/pigozzi-artist.php?i=Hazoume-Romuald&m=35 CAACart.