Exhibition space of contemporary art in the presidential palace, Benin. 2022, Adewole Falade.
Abstract
From February to May 2022, the Republic of Benin organized an exhibition to display the 26 returned artefacts along with the artworks from “confirmed and emerging” contemporary artists. For some time, the Beninese art scene drew its inspiration from voodoo traditions and practices. Sculptors, painters, or plastic artists took on the role of guardians of an altered collective memory. A collective memory which suffered from but was also reshaped by dramatic historical local events. Consequently, in the last decades of the 20th century, art ambitioned to break away from political and economic constraints. Prominent artists succeeded in recreating a dialogue between the Beninese people and their identities. It certainly opened new avenues for the new generations of artists. The repatriation of the 26 artefacts has not only stirred the Beninese art scene but has also partaken in a search for novel cultural and artistic dynamics. Moreover, it has provided the Beninese artists with the tools and medium to (re)connect with a past that now seems more palpable, set up and engage in dialogues stemming from a better understanding of old artistic practices, and open up paths to explore and question who the Beninese people is.
This article will be published in the Special Issue “Repatriation and Contemporary Art”, edited by Khadija von Zinnenburg Carroll, Jessyca Hutchens and Verena Melgarejo Weinandt
Adewole Falade is a cultural heritage activist and passionate about multiculturalism. Her passion led her to earnestly collect, preserve, and promote Benin Republic’s cultural heritage and traditions for over a decade. She has achieved that through Mewihonto, the association she has been running since 2016. She’s had multiple functions within the association from field investigator to journalist, or from project manager to co-editor. Adewole graduated with both a Master of Arts in British, American and Post-Colonial Studies at Université La Sorbonne in Paris (2008), and with a Master of Arts in French Literature at the University of Illinois at Chicago (2009). Upon her return to Cotonou (Benin Republic), she worked as a French to English translator and interpreter, as well as an English teacher for private and international institutions. Alongside, she undertook to partake in the artistic scene, working with musicians, actors, film and theater directors, as well as event planners in Benin and other African countries. Adewole is now a Doctoral Candidate in Comparative History at the Central European University (CEU) in Vienna. Her interests evolve around the restitution of Beninese artifacts from France and the new ties being built because of that return. She is also a Researcher for the project “Repatriates” funded by the ERC.