ARTAFRICAFEATURE / THAT ART FAIRTHAT ART FAIR / IN CONVERSATION WITH EMO DE MEDEIROS 3/22
THE MEDIUM
IS THE MESSAGE
ART AFRICA In Conversation with Emo de Medeiros
Emo de Medeiros is the Invited Artist at this year’s edition of
THAT ART FAIR. The Beninese/French artist has shown his work across
the globe (including the Marrakech Biennale and the Palais de Tokyo in Paris),
and was recently selected for Dak’Art 2016.His participation at THAT ART FAIR marks his debut in the ‘Southern’ mar-
ket. In the following interview, the ‘hypermedia’ artist explains his practice as
well as the pioneering concepts that inform it. The artist also delves into the
renewal of traditional platforms and the evolution of the role of the artist.ART AFRICA: You are the Invited Artist at this year’s edition of THAT ART FAIR, which
marks the first time your work will be exhibited in South Africa. What are your impressions
and expectations of the ‘Southern’ market?
Emo de Medeiros:First of all, I’m very happy and proud to have been invited to THAT ART FAIR
and I am delighted to work in South Africa. Not only because it’s Nelson Mandela’s country, but
also because of a spiritual coincidence: I met a South African collector in Florence a few months
ago, who told me that it was a complex, fast-changing country, and therefore interesting regarding
the emergence and diffusion of new artistic forms. She urged me to visit and show my work in
South Africa... and here I am six months later! Besides, I am very pleased to discover South Africa
through Cape Town, not only because it’s one of the largest and most multi-ethnic cities in Africa, but
also because it’s a harbor city much like my two home cities where I work and live, Cotonou and Paris.
Harbours are hubs for exchanges and interactions of all sorts, where people and cultures coalesce and
collide, places where transformations happen, laboratories that diffuse innovations and mutations.
My impression of the ‘Southern’ market is that it’s an emerging market bringing about new visions,
involving a new generation of artists, curators and collectors. I’ve just come back from Lagos, where
I witnessed the same kind of takeoff. I am very excited to discover another African scene different
from West Africa.
ARTAFRICA