On a blue and yellow background, he then retouches with a brush his representation of the half-man, half-shark statue of King Béhanzin, one of the 26 treasures looted by French colonial troops at the end of the 19th century and returned to Benin at the end of 2021. after more than two years of negotiations between Paris and Cotonou.

At his side, 25 other graffiti artists, including 15 also from abroad, wave bombs and brushes, to tell in painting the history and culture of Benin on this wall of more than one kilometer along the port of Cotonou.

Their objective: to create the largest mural fresco in the world as part of the Graff Effect festival, which has chosen the theme, "New Benin", for its eighth edition.

A mural by Togolese artist Sitou Matthia on May 18, 2022 in Cotonou, Benin YANICK FOLLY AFP

More than 700 meters of wall have been colored since April 11, and organizers hope to expand it to 1,300 meters during the ninth edition to be held in early 2023. They hope to break the record for the longest graffiti mural in the world. .

"To create the Benin of the future, we must keep the Benin of the past before our eyes", explains Laurenson Djihouéssi, by his artist name Mr Stone, graffiti artist and promoter of the festival.

Beninese artist Laurenson Djihouessi, known as Mr Stone, during the Graff Effect festival in Cotonou, on May 18, 2022 in Benin YANICK FOLLY AFP

So many graffiti artists have chosen to represent on this wall the 26 restored treasures, presented since February for the first time in Benin within a historical exhibition at the presidential palace, located a few hundred meters away.

"Art to the Public"

"There, the public goes in the direction of art, but here the art goes to the public", explains the graffiti artist Mr Stone, who has decided to pay homage to the amazons, the elite troupes made up exclusively of women from the kingdom of Dahomey (one of the kingdoms constituting Benin before colonization).

Their warrior tunics are now visible in the exhibition presented at the presidency, but Mr Stone has decided to represent an amazon with a cape, on which are drawn the emblems of the kingdom of Dahomey.

Beninese artist Romario Agbo-Koffi during the Graff Effect festival, May 18, 2022 in Cotonou, Benin YANICK FOLLY AFP

"It is a continuity of the exhibition (at the presidency) and we are betting here on graffiti which is a great vector of communication to reconnect us to our history", adds the graffiti artist.

With this work, the artist wants to place the Beninese woman "at the heart of action and development", he says, that she "be an Amazon of modern times".

But it is not only the royal history of Benin painted on this fresco that attracts dozens of passers-by.

A mural by Beninese artist Romario Agbo-Koffi, known as Dr Mario, during the Graff Effect festival, on May 18, 2022 in Cotonou, Benin YANICK FOLLY AFP

Supported by the Claudine Talon Foundation, the First Lady of Benin, and the Ministry of Culture, this wall also highlights recent achievements undertaken in the West African country.

- Modernization -

Drusille Fagnibo, 32, is one of the few female artists participating in the festival.

Raffia hat on her head, she bustles under a blazing sun to finish her work.

Cranes evoking the reform of the port of Cotonou, the country's economic lung, passing through agricultural machinery, in reference to the modernization of the agricultural sector, or even the tarred roads, symbols of the hundreds of kilometers of roads built, the main projects launched by Beninese President Patrice Talon are represented on this fresco.

Beninese artist Drusille Fagnibo during the Graff Effect festival, May 18, 2022 in Cotonou, Benin YANICK FOLLY AFP

Since his first election in 2015, the Head of State re-elected in 2021 has carried out dozens of all-out projects with a view to setting his country on the path to development.

This impressive modernization of the economy, as fast as it is forced, has also been accompanied by a significant democratic decline, according to the opposition, reduced to almost nothing today.

On his side of the wall, Drusille Fagnibo also represented the building of the Court for the Suppression of Economic Crimes and Terrorism (Criet).

This special court, set up in 2016 to put an end to impunity within the political class, is perceived by its detractors as the armed wing of power.

A mural by Beninese artist Lionel Attere during the Graff Effect festival on May 18, 2022 in Cotonou, Benin YANICK FOLLY AFP

In particular, it sentenced the main opposition figures in Benin to very heavy prison terms, but the government denies any form of interference.

© 2022 AFP