Cyprien Tokoudagba (Bénin) born 1939 lives and works in Abomey

CURRICULUM-EXHIBITS

2006

Fondation Zinsou

Cotonou - Bénin

1995
Cyprien Tokoudagba
Cloister Museum
Culture and People.
Tulle, France.

1995
Cyprien Tokoudagba
IFA-Gallery.
Bonn, Stuttgart, Germany.

1991
Cyprien Tokoudagba
French Cultural Center.
Cotonou, Benin

GROUP EXHIBITS

2008

Moving Toward a Balanced Earth

Te Papa Tongarewa National Museum, Wellington - New Zealand

2005
Arts of Africa
Grimaldi Forum
Monaco - France

2005
African Art Now : Masterpieces from the Jean Pigozzi Collection
Museum of Fine Art Houston
Houston - USA

2004-2006 (travelling exhibition)
Africa Remix
Art contemporain d’un continent

•24 July 2004 – 7 Nov 2004
Museum Kunst Palast
Düsseldorf - Germany

•10 Feb 2005 – 17 April 2005
Hayward Gallery
London – England

•15 May 2005 – 20 Aug 2005
Centre Georges Pompidou
Paris – France

•Feb – May 2006
Mori Art Museum
Tokyo

2003

Transvangarde: Contemporary Art from Around the Planet

Kulturbrauerei

Berlin – Germany

1998
Africa Africa Vibrant New Art from a Dynamic Continent
Tobu Museum of Art.
Tokyo, Japan.

1997
Lumiere Noire
Tanlay Contemporary Art Center.
Tanlay, France.

1996
Sao Paulo Biennal
Sao Paulo, Brazil.

1996
Neue Kunst Aus Afrika
Im Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt.
Berlin, Germany.

1995
Big City
Serpentine Gallery.
London, Great-Britain.

1995
Vital : Three contemporary african artists
Tate Gallery.
Liverpool, Great-Britain.

1994
Rencontres Africaines
Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris.
Travelling exhibitions: France, Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Morocco.

1993
Sydney Biennal
Sydney, Australia.

1993
La Grande Verite, les Astres Africains
Nantes Fine Art Museum.
Nantes, France.

1992
Out of Africa
Saatchi Collection.
London, United Kindom.

1991
Africa Hoy
Atlantic Center of Modern Art.
Las Palmas Gran Canary, Spain.
Cultural Center of Contemporary Art.
Mexico City, Mexico.

1991
Africa Now
Groninger Museum.
Groningen, Netherland.

1989
Magiciens de la Terre
M.N.A.M. Georges Pompidou Center.
La Grande Halle de la Villette, Paris.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2005
African Art Now: Masterpieces from the Jean Pigozzi Collection
Exhibition catalogue. Published by Merrell.

2004
Africa Remix
Exhibition catalogue. Published by Hatje Cantz Verlag.

2001
Tribal Soul, Metropolitan Body.
Arte Africana Contemporanea.
L'Artiere edizionitalia.

1998
Africa Africa
Vibrant New Art from a Dynamic Continent.
Exhibition Catalogue, Japanese and English.
Tobu Museum. Tokyo, Japan.

1997
Lumiere Noire.
Exhibition Catalogue. Texts in French.
Tanlay Art Center, France.

1996
Universalis
23rd Sao Paulo International Biennal.
Exhibition catalogue.
Fundacao Bienal de Sao Paulo, Brazil.

1996
Contemporary Art of Africa.
Cyprien Tokoudagba, text in English by Jacques Soulillou, p.40-43.
Edited by Andre Magnin & Jacques Soulillou.
Publisher Harry N. Abraams, New York.

1996
Neue Kunst Aus Afrika
Exhibition Catalogue.
Im Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt.
Berlin, Germany.

1995-1996
VOODOO Cyprien Tokoudagba
Exhibition Catalogue.
IFA, Bonn & Stuttgart, Germany.

1995
Vital Three Contemporary African Artists.
Exhibition Catalogue.
The Link between Earth and Sky.
Tate Gallery, Liverpool.

1994
Rencontres Africaines.
Exhibition Catalogue.
Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris.

1993
Sydney Biennal.
Exhibition Catalogue

1992
Out of Africa.
Exhibition catalogue
The Jean Pigozzi Contemporary Art Collection.
The Saatchi Gallery.
London, Great Britain.

1991
Africa Hoy.
Atlantic Center for Modern Art.
Exhibition Catalogue. Cyprien Tokoudagba p.143-149.
Las Palmas, Gran Canary Islands, Spain.

1989
Magiciens de la terre
Exhibition Catalogue.
Georges Pompidou Centre.
Paris, France.

Cyprien Tokoudagba (Bénin)

born 1939 lives and works in Abomey

Tokoudagba si occupa di diverse attività che spaziano alla pittura murale, su tela agli affreschi e alle sculture monumentali.

Inizia la sua attività come restauratore al palazzo del re Glelé e al museo nazionale di Abomey. E in contatto con le ricche tradizioni artistiche e culturali del Bénin. Lavora tra l’altro alla decorazione di numerosi edifici vodou e a più elaborate pitture murali rappresentanti i simboli di potenze politiche o religiose. Dal 1989 realizza grandi pitture su tela sulle quali combina con grande libertà gli emblemi dei re di Abomey, i simboli delle divinità (Terra, Fuoco, Acqua, Aria) e di oggetti legati alla sua cultura.

Le combinazioni delle figure, degli oggetti e dei simboli danno ai suoi quadri l’aspetto di rebus curiosi.

l nonno di mio nonno era un grande guerriero tanto che il re Uegbadjz lo fece primo ministro. Il padre di mio nonno, Adedji, era primo ministro del re Ghezo. Mio nonno primo ministro del re Glelé, dopo la morte del re, suo figlio e successore Behanzin lo tenne con se e gli diede il nostro attuale nome di famiglia: Tokoudagba.

Da ragazzo fui inviato in un “couvent” per la mia iniziazione a “sorcier”. La durata era di sei mesi un periodo durante il quale non era possibile ne fare marcia indietro ne abbandonare. Fu molto impegnativo, con una disciplina ferrea. I segreti imparati non possono essere trasmessi a nessuno. Ci insegnarono come usare la magia, la forza delle parole e i segreti delle piante. Sono questi i poteri degli stregoni. I segreti possono essere rivelati solo a coloro che si presentano come nuovi discepoli caso contrario si è condannati alla follia.

Cyprien Tokoudagba

Tokoudagba e Yves Pédé

Cantiere del Museo Tokoudagba a Abomey

Atelier di Tokoudagba, sullo sfondo il tempio per le preghiere

WORKS

Dipinti/Paintings

BIOGRAPHY

Cyprien Tokoudagba was born in 1939 and lives and works in Abomey, Benin.

He started to work as a restorer for the Abomey Museum in 1987, when he was hired to replicate the original bas-reliefs that told many of Dahomey's legends and stories while celebrating the individual kings for the new Glelé royal palace façade, reconstructed by the government of Benin.

Today, Cyprien Tokoudagba continues the tradition of bas-relief though the use cement and commercially available synthetic paint, while also producing works on canvas, frescoes and monumental scuptures.

For Cyprien, art is something that emerges from his inner self. Art is the representation of thoughts and knowledge, it is an elevated sphere, a castle for philosophers. An artist value is much too great to be explained: “Art is inside my head” he says. In 1989, Cyprien left Benin for the first time to exhibit at “Magiciens de la Terre” in Paris, France.

His works have also been exhibited int the following museums: Smithsonian institution - National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC; Musée Dapper, Paris, France; Museum Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf, Germany; Hayward Gallery, London, Englands; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan; São Paulo Biennale, Brasil.