Gaba
Meschac Gaba
Voyages Colis, 2013
Airport filled, five continents flags and fabric
195 x 115 x 190 cm
Unique artwork
l'artiste & Galerie In Situ / fabienne leclerc, Paris
What the artist is portraying here is his vision of a globalised Afriocan society, strongly attached to the perpetual flow of money. This latter element - mobility through the blurring of boundaries- is at the heart of this installation "Voyages-colis".
Conceived in the continuity of the work presented at the Benin Biennale, this piece is also refers to the idea of globalisation and highlights the notion of migration. For the artist, this term refers both to the shifting of one place to another and to the social mechanisms that this journey entails - the exchange and mingling of the people and cultures. An airport trolley filled with flags from various countries is presented.
Gaba avoids clichés, and above all the stereotype of an authentic Africa, entangled in traditional rituals and supposedly ignorant of modernity. What the artist is showing us, what he is urging us to see is an Africa which embraces the world, so much so that his vision of the present reaches far beyond the solereality of his native country.
His approch, through which he asserts himself both as a global and an African artist, invites us to reassess the status of Africa in our imagination and, in a wider perspective, the current relationship between Africa and West.
Essai by Francesca Cozzolino (2013)