AGBARA WOMEN - THE BOOK
This new Archive du Présent is dedicated to the artist Ishola Akpo.
By confronting the works of Ishola Akpo, the public is invited to consider the female figures who have replaced men in historical documents, which are often the only visual archives of the great kingdoms of the African continent. The artist takes the viewer on his own journey through the history of African queens, confronting us with the absence of images and narratives, with a history that has been erased and transformed.
AGBARA Women challenges us to think critically. How could we have ignored the power of these queens, how could we have accepted their disappearance from history, the erasure of their reign? Why do we find ourselves faced with this work without any knowledge of the characters that inspired it?
These women are contemporary, and their majestic portraits don't allow us to look away; they confront us with the erasure of their predecessors' history. Ishola Akpo speaks to us about the current situation of women on the continent. Just as he becomes aware of the importance of his grandmother's story, which was about to disappear before his very eyes, he realizes that women in general have been sidelined from history. By putting them back at the center of the image, by making them visible to us, he forces us to rethink the world and question the way we accept the narrative of history.
Ishola Akpo, an artist from Benin, was born in 1983. Self-taught, he began with photography before broadening his practice through numerous residencies in Africa and Europe. Between tradition and modernity, he creates narratives that draw inspiration from his origins and immediate environment, before broadening their contours to create universal narratives.
He began the AGBARA Women project with a series of portraits of queens during a 15-month residency at the Fondation Zinsou, during which he also created a series of collages entitled “Traces d'une Reine”, using archives that he transformed to rethink history and the way it is told. Ceramic sculptures entitled “Entre résistance et fragilité” (Between resistance and fragility), the “Talataay” series and hand-woven, embroidered tapestries entitled “Manifeste” will also see the light of day during this project.
In April 2024, Ishola Akpo presents the work “Ìyálóde” at the Venice Biennale 2024, where it is part of the first Beninese pavilion “Everything precious is fragile” curated by Azu Nwagbogu.
This book was supported by Atlantic Art Space Ouidah, Galerie Sabrina Amrani Madrid, Cercle des Mécènes et Amis de la Fondation Zinsou and Contemporary A.
AGBARA Women, Ishola Akpo
Collection Archives du Présent
Editions Fondation Zinsou / Contemporary A
96 pages
ISBN 978-2-9580110-8-6
35€ / 23 000fcfa
To read the Agbara Women book, click on the book icon
Les Archives du Présent
Artists' words need to be archived. It's essential to record them in the present, for the future, so that they don't disappear, because they are the heritage of future generations, enabling them to understand the past and build the future.
During artist residencies and exhibition preparations, numerous exchanges take place between artists and Fondation Zinsou staff. These are recorded, transcribed, sorted, rewritten, collated and then validated by the artists. This work is shared with the public through the Fondation Zinsou collection. ” As publishers of our books, we are able to offer them at affordable prices, as well as for free download.
