Princesse Keirath is an emerging multidisciplinary artist from Benin, whose practice blends ink, acrylic, pigments, and diverse media to create visually striking, conceptually layered works. In her most recent series, The Gaani Codex, she explores one of Benin’s most significant cultural ceremonies, weaving it together with her own personal mythology and symbolic language. Her work examines the evolution of traditions, producing compositions rich in narrative.

Photo source: Educ' Action

Princess Keirath (1995) began her artistic journey studying interior design at the Art’Com Sup School of Design in Rabat, Morocco. Over the years, she has explored multiple disciplines including graphic design, painting, textile design, photography, and serigraphy. She was also an active member of the Pan-African cultural and artistic movement The Messengers of Messages, which promotes peace, unity, and dialogue through visual arts.

In her practice, Keirath blends materials seamlessly, using ink, acrylic, markers, oil pastels, and pigments to create layered, textured canvases. In The Gaani Codex, she interprets the annual Gaani festival, one of Benin’s oldest traditional celebrations, retracing ancestral epics, monarchic rituals, and community practices. The series depicts ceremonial horsemen parades and other ritual sequences, drawn in white against a dark background, creating a sequential narrative that unfolds like a visual time frieze, as if the practices is unfolding in front of the viewer. 

Princesse Keirath, Sina Boko Gaani, The Gaani Codex Series, 2024

Interwoven with these cultural elements are symbols drawn from Keirath’s imagination. Sometimes arranged in mosaic-like forms, they are crafted from decorated canvas pieces attached as pockets or envelopes containing words and sentences meaningful to both the artist and the Gaani festival. Through this approach, her work reflects on the significance of cultural traditions in evolving societies. Blending heritage with personal symbolism, Keirath produces works imbued with mystery and poetic resonance.

Princesse Keirath has exhibited widely across Benin and received multiple awards recognizing her emerging talent. Notably, she was selected to represent Benin in the Women’s Pavilion at the 2025 World Exhibition in Osaka, Japan, highlighting her growing international presence as an innovative young artist.