"Abidjan est zo": stroll through the city of contemporary arts

Audio 48:30

Painter Obou, Ivorian visual artist, asserts his African culture with this Dan mask that he wears and paints in most of his paintings.

© RFI / Vladimir Cagnolari

By: Céline Develay Mazurelle Follow

2 min

In terms of contemporary art, the Ivorian economic capital has long been a fertile ground.

After going through the years of crisis and conflict, the city is getting a makeover, and more and more contemporary art galleries and foundations are popping up on the edge of the Ebrié lagoon.

Places that share and encourage contemporary African and Ivorian creation, while seeking to open it up to as many people as possible, starting with the MuCAT, Museum of Contemporary Cultures Adama Toungara, inaugurated in 2020 in the popular district of Abobo, located north of Abidjan.

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Painters, sculptors, performers and visual artists, many of whom come from the School of Fine Arts in Abidjan, then find spaces to exhibit, sell their works and make a living from their art, following in the footsteps of their illustrious elders Ouattara Watts, Ernest Dükü or Jems Koko Bi ... Because in Abidjan, there is money and fortunes capable of acquiring paintings and sculptures, of collecting, in an international market which is increasingly eyeing Africa. 

From the Plateau business district, to Abobo, passing through the chic and green district of Cocody, let's follow 

Vladimir Cagnolari, going to

 take the pulse of Abidjan Arty.

From workshops to street-art exhibitions, from vernissages to gallery opening, Abidjan is zo! 

A report by Vladimir Cagnolari.

Find out more:

- On 

the MuCAT, Museum of Contemporary Cultures Adama Toungara

 located in Abobo

- On the work of 

the Ivorian artist Peintre Obou

- On the 

Donwahi Foundation for Contemporary Art 

opened in 2008 in Cocody 

- On

 the Rotonde des arts,

 another essential address in Abidjan, directed by Yacouba Konaté, a figure of the arts in Côte d'Ivoire

- On the 

Unique Piece Gallery / BJKD Foundation 

recently inaugurated 

The “Unique Piece” gallery is located in Cocody, Riviera 3. It opened in September 2021. © Vladimir Cagnolari

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