Exhibition view Gallery Maïa Muller – Copyright Rebecca Fanuele
Exhibition view Gallery Maïa Muller – Copyright Rebecca Fanuele
Exhibition view Gallery Maïa Muller – Copyright Rebecca Fanuele
Post-colonialism is the subject of debate. From Frantz Fanon to Marc Ferro, reflection opened on these relations of domination which continue to be perpetuated. When it comes to beliefs, however, initiation rites and rites of passage are still perceived mainly as phenomena that are either folkloric or that stem from primitive societies. The plays of Aimé Césaire did not succeed in placing the apostle and the shaman at the same level.
Here humour – Hassan Musa’s recurring weapon – weaves together the founding sacraments of the Eucharist (Manger Tue, reworking The Last Supper by Caravage). Facing Christ’s last meal, Leda and the swan are the simultaneous presence of the myth of Zeus incarnate, and the homage to the artist becoming God, Rubens.
Myriam Mihindou – whose recent exhibition at the Musée du Quai Branly demonstrates the power of what she constructs (Trophée, 2020) in terms of transmissions, of passage, in sculpture, which is almost always her starting gesture – offers us an installation Les algues géantes I et II with conductive copper, and its power rods as the centrepiece of the exhibition designed for Galerie Maïa Muller, Jesus Christ Superstar.
Entering this space, The Valpinçon Bather is painted on a prayer rug. Coming from the Philippines, the areca nut and betel nut from a drawing by Gaston Damag play a magical pharmacopoeia alongside a sculpture of Ifugao knives that would be used by shamans.
This is an invitation: come into the trance.