…Yao Metsoko, Tete Azankpo, Laka & Emmanuel Sogbadji present ‘LA FEMINITE DU M.A.L.E’
Nubuke Foundation opens its doors to four unique Togolese visual artists of totally distinct expressions, personalities and worlds. The artists – Metsoko, Azankpo, Laka and Emmanuel Sogbadji – present a collective exhibition entitled: “LA FEMINITE DU M.A.L.E”.
The exhibition begins this weekend on Saturday, September 17 and continues until October 29, 2022.
This title – a play on the exhibition’s theme – is also partially an amalgamation of the initials of each artist’s name in a bid to acknowledge their failure to exhibit alongside a female colleague even as they present works that accentuate femininity.
Each artist’s expression is a homage to and a medium through which he visualises femininity, highlighting the major significance that masculinity confers on femininity.
The inescapable character of femininity is revealed through Metsoko’s larger-than-life look at women transported by the ‘zemidjan’, motorcycle-taxis of Lomé, or through Azankpo’s compositions, made from the scraps of enamel basins of housewives, which have been part of the identity of the African woman since the 1960s.
It is also experienced through Laka’s masks which seem to transpose their perpetual search for the infinite, thus evoking the eternal feminine; and again, through the work of Emmanuel Sogbadji, where the Egou dance, traditionally reserved for men according to the codes of patriarchy, is performed by women in trance under their togas, thus conferring a purely feminine grace.
This exhibition, “LA FEMINITE DU M.A.L.E” by Metsoko, Azankpo Camille, Laka and Emmanuel Sogbadji – all Togolese by origin, is a materialisation of their common goal: to pay homage to the knowledge and practice of Togolese visual artists beyond the borders of Togo, and captivate the interest of the international sphere of fine arts.
This landmark exhibition is the first to be held by Nubuke Foundation with artists from neighbouring Togo. Nubuke Foundation is excited by this collaboration, and to welcome artists from the West African sub-region.
Nubuke Foundation is a private visual art and cultural institution based in Accra, Ghana. Founded in 2006, it serves as a nexus for arts and culture across the country while supporting the artistic practice of Ghanaians: young, mid-career and experienced. Programming includes exhibitions, art talks, seminars, workshops and spaces for drama, poetry, music and film collaborations. Nubuke Foundation is a member of the Arts Collaboratory Network.
Arts Collaboratory (AC) is a network of twenty-five diverse arts organisations in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Europe. AC is a trans-local ecosystem, focusing on art practices and processes of social change, and working with communities within and beyond the arts.
