You're warmly invited to the opening of group exhibition "Côte d’Ivoire est zo" on Friday, September 20th at 5 PM, showing works by Ivorian artists Armand Boua (1978), Pascal Konan (1979) & Mounou Désiré Koffi (1994).

This exhibition is the second in a series born from the notion “African contemporary art does not exist”. This series seeks to show a glimpse of the vast diversity in contemporary art from Africa by visiting artists in various countries or regions of the continent and rather let the stories evolve from there, than working from a pre-conceived theme or narrative. The first stop in this artistic journey was Southern-Benin, cradle of the Vodoun religion, steeped in ancient history with powerful kingdoms, ferocious wars, and tales of heroic amazons, incredible bravery, and loyalty, but also marked by tragic suffering and the dark era of slave trade.

Côte d'Ivoire is the second stop in this artistic journey, one of the smaller West-African countries but an agricultural giant, known for its prosperity from cocoa, coffee, and palm oil. This young and thriving post-colonial society boasts a well-developed cultural infrastructure with rich cultural and artistic traditions, nourished by a large variety of ethnic groups. A culture where traditional beliefs seem to blend in naturally with imported religions like Christianity and Islam. However, under the greenish surface, the economic successes, bustling cities and beautiful nature, this young society is still deeply scarred by the civil war, less than two decades ago, between the less developed Islamic north and the Christian-oriented south. A long-lasting conflict driven by political exclusion, ethnic and regional disparities, economic inequalities, and power struggles, rooted in a colonial history. As Cote d’Ivoire grapples with its national identity and cultural diversity, it not only faces modern challenges like economic and social disparities but also some serious environmental issues that come with an intensive agricultural sector and big city life.