doual'art is a non profit cultural organisation and art centre founded in 1991 in
Douala
Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. It was home to Central Africa's largest port, now being replaced by Kribi port. It has the country ...
,
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...
and focussed on new urban practices of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
n cities.
History
doual'art was registered as a
non profit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
in 1992 and it was established by
Marilyn Douala Bell and
Didier Schaub
__NOTOC__
Didier is a French masculine given name and surname common throughout the Romance languages. It comes from the Ancient Roman name Didius. During the 5th century AD, with the Christianisation of ancient pagan names, it became associated ...
. In 1995 they created ''Espace doual'art'', an exhibition space and gallery in the neighbourhood of Bonanjo in Douala. In 1996 they produced La Nouvelle Liberté by Joseph-Francis Sumégné, considered a landmark in Douala. In 2005 they organized the first Ars&Urbis event, an international symposium to foster discussion and theory about the contribution of art to urban transformation. The event led to the establishment of the
SUD Salon Urbain de Douala
The SUD Salon Urbain de Douala (meaning South - Urban Festival of Douala) is a triennial festival of public art and contemporary art organised in Douala, Cameroon. The festival had its first edition in 2007 and it is promoted by the art centre ...
, a triennial exhibition focused on
public art
Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...
. In December 2007 it launched the first edition of the SUD Salon Urbain de Douala.
In December 2010 the second edition of SUD Salon Urbain de Douala took place. The salon produces the itinerant exhibition ''Making Douala 2007-2013'' which was presented in 2012 at the
International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam within its official programme, at the
Dakar Biennale
The Dakar Biennale, or Dak'Art - Biennale de l'Art Africain Contemporain, is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Dakar, Senegal. Dak'Art's focus has been on Contemporary African Art since 1996.
History
...
as an off event and on Lucas Grandin's website
In 2013 it participated at Art
Dubai
Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
doual'art by exhibiting the artists
Em’kal Eyongakpa,
Boris Nzebo and
Joseph-Francis Sumégné
Joseph-Francis Sumégné was born on 30 July 1951 in Bamenjou, Cameroon. Painter and sculptor since 1976, he is a self-taught artist. He lives and works in Yaoundé (Cameroon).
Biography
Influenced by the engravings and the tattoos that he ob ...
and by representing the artists
Romuald Dikoumé,
Justine Gaga Justine may refer to:
* Justine (given name)
Justine is a given name. It is the feminine form of Justin (given name), Justin, derived from Justus, a Latin name meaning just or fair.
It may refer to:
* Justine of Padua (died 304), Christian marty ...
,
Haco Hankson,
Aser Kash,
Koko Komégné,
Salifou Lindou,
Hervé Yamguen and
Hervé Youmbi.
Governance
doual'art is directed by its president
Marilyn Douala Bell (and its artistic director
Didier Schaub
__NOTOC__
Didier is a French masculine given name and surname common throughout the Romance languages. It comes from the Ancient Roman name Didius. During the 5th century AD, with the Christianisation of ancient pagan names, it became associated ...
until his death in 2014). The institution is an independent non profit organization which develops its activities and projects with the support of partners, international grant-makers and
sponsors
Sponsor or sponsorship may refer to a person or organization with some role (especially one of responsibility) regarding another person or organisation:
*Sponsor (commercial), supporter of an event, activity, or person
*Sponsor (legislative), a per ...
.
In producing
site-specific urban interventions, doual'art works as an intermediary between social and economic actors, population and local collectives. It perceives cultural and artistic initiatives as a tool for consolidating freedom of expression and social cohesion, which allow in their turn transcending and overcoming closures and cleavages. doual'art implements a participatory approach to cultural practice, negotiating with local communities, NGOs and authorities their specific needs and aspirations and involving artists as facilitators of the development processes.
The exhibition space has presented works by
Pascale Marthine Tayou
Pascale Marthine Tayou (born 1966) is a Cameroonian artist born in Nkongsamba, Cameroon. He lives and works in Ghent, Belgium and in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
He began his career as an artist in the 1990s, and has carried out exhibitions in Camero ...
,
Goddy Leye
Goddy Leye (24 November 1965 in Mbouda, Cameroon – 19 February 2011 in Bonendale, Cameroon) was a Cameroonian artist and intellectual.
His work is focused on videos, installations, conceptual art and theoretical contributions. He is the ...
,
Alioum Moussa
Alioum Moussa, born in 1977 in Maroua (Cameroon), is a graphic designer and illustrator by
training. He lives and works in Yaoundé (Cameroon).
Biography
A self-taught visual artist, Alioum Moussa expresses himself through several media: primari ...
,
Koko Komégné,
Joseph-Francis Sumégné
Joseph-Francis Sumégné was born on 30 July 1951 in Bamenjou, Cameroon. Painter and sculptor since 1976, he is a self-taught artist. He lives and works in Yaoundé (Cameroon).
Biography
Influenced by the engravings and the tattoos that he ob ...
,
AchilleKà,
Bili Bidjocka,
Lucas Grandin
Lucas Grandin (born 1976 in Le Mans, France) is an artist, curator, teacher, and active initiator of various projects. Lucas Grandin has developed an approach combining sound, video, light, low-tech with a particular focus on the urban planning ...
,
Khaled Hafez,
Christian Hanussek,
Aser Kash,
Bill Kouelany,
Frédéric Keiff,
Faouzi Laatiris,
Salifou Lindou,
Michèle Magema,
Malam Malam is a name. Notable people with this name include:
Surname
* Albert Malam (1913–1992), English football player
* Brady Malam (born 1973), New Zealand rugby league football player
* Daouda Malam Wanké (1946–2004), military and political le ...
,
Joël Mpah Dooh
Joël Claude Mpah Dooh, born in Nkongsamba (Cameroon) in 1956, is a visual artist who lives and works in Douala.
Biography
Joël Claude Mpah Dooh is a graduate of the Conservatoire Municipal des Beaux-Arts of Amiens (France).
His first work ...
,
Younès Rahmoun,
Tracey Rose,
Kamiel Verschuren,
Sue Williamson
Sue Williamson (born 1941) is an artist and writer based in Cape Town, South Africa.
Life
Sue Williamson was born in Lichfield, England in 1941. In 1948 she immigrated with her family to South Africa. Between 1963 and 1965 she studied at t ...
,
Jules Wokam
Jules is the French form of the Latin "Julius" (e.g. Jules César, the French name for Julius Caesar).
In the anglosphere, it is also used for females although it is still a predominantly masculine name.One of the few notable examples of a femal ...
,
Guy Wouete
Guy or GUY may refer to:
Personal names
* Guy (given name)
* Guy (surname)
* That Guy (...), the New Zealand street performer Leigh Hart
Places
* Guy, Alberta, a Canadian hamlet
* Guy, Arkansas, US, a city
* Guy, Indiana, US, an uninc ...
,
Hervé Yamguen,
Hervé Youmbi.
Building
doual'art was initially established in 1991 without a fixed location, with the aim of producing site-specific artworks and projects in the different neighborhoods of Douala. In 1995 the ''Espace doual'art'' is created. The space was established in the former cinema of the Palace of Douala Kings, property of the family Douala Bell and located in Bonanjo, Place du Gouvernement. The architect
Danièle Diwouta-Kotto restored the location and created offices, an exhibition space, a cafeteria and the outside garden. The ''Espace doual'art'' hosts meetings, conferences, exhibitions, projections, installations and performances. Douala is at the centre of the work of doual'art, also after the establishment of the ''Espace doual'art''. Between 1991 and 2012 doual'art produces artworks in over 12 neighborhood of the city.
File:The Palace of the King of the Cameroons.jpg, Photo Richard Harding Davis, c. 1902
File:Roberto Paci Dalò - SUD Salon Urbain de Douala 2010 (111).jpg
File:Roberto Paci Dalò - SUD Salon Urbain de Douala 2010 (112).jpg
File:Roberto Paci Dalò - SUD Salon Urbain de Douala 2010 (108).jpg
Programme
The focus of doual'art is on contemporary art and urban transformations.
Since 1991, the organization has exhibited and produced artworks of Cameroonian artists and it has invited contemporary artists of other nationalities to
Douala
Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. It was home to Central Africa's largest port, now being replaced by Kribi port. It has the country ...
in order to create a bridge between the
city
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
and
contemporary art
Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...
productions. The purpose of doual'art is to foster Douala's cultural and urban identity. Indeed, artistic creation is considered a trigger of change, a paradigm of development, and most crucially an effective means to fight indigence and poverty.
Since 2007 doual'art organises the
SUD Salon Urbain de Douala
The SUD Salon Urbain de Douala (meaning South - Urban Festival of Douala) is a triennial festival of public art and contemporary art organised in Douala, Cameroon. The festival had its first edition in 2007 and it is promoted by the art centre ...
, a triennial cultural event which produces ephemeral and permanent
contemporary art
Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...
and
public art
Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...
for the city of
Douala
Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. It was home to Central Africa's largest port, now being replaced by Kribi port. It has the country ...
. The event takes place in December; the first edition of SUD is organized in 2007; the second in 2010; the third in 2013.
Notability

Doual'art is described by the
Prince Claus Fund
The Prince Claus Fund was established in 1996 and named after Prince Claus of the Netherlands. It is annually subsidized by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Since 1997, the Fund has annually presented the international Prince Claus Award ...
as an "organisation that has revolutionized the art scene in Cameroon". Doual'art is part of several international networks including Artfactories and ArtsCollaboratory.
It is featured among the institutions of New Art Spaces Museum, The organisation and its activities have been supported among others by ICU Art Projects (since 2010), Enough Room for Space, Prince Claus Fund, Mondriaan Foundation, Hivos, ArtsCollaboratory - Doen Foundation.
See also
*
List of Cameroonian artists
The following list of Cameroonian artists (in alphabetical order by last name) includes artists of various genres, who are Wikipedia:ARTIST, notable and are either born in Cameroon, of Cameroonian descent or who produce works that are primarily ab ...
*
List of public art in Douala
References
Further reading
* Emmanuelle Lequeux,
A Douala, la princesse qui veut éveiller les consciences' in "Le Monde", 14/03/2012.
* Essombe Mouange, ''Les arts plastiques au Cameroun, pour un espace d'expression viable'' in ''Cameroun: la culture sacrifiée''. Dossier of the magazine "
Africultures
''Africultures'' is a publication of arts and culture about and from Africa and its diasporas. Based in Paris, it was founded in 1997 under the impetus of Olivier Barlet by journalists and academics such as Virginie Andriamirado, Gérald Arnaud, ...
", n. 60, L'Harmattan, July–September 2004, pp. 84–93.
* Essombe Mouange, ''Nous voulons faire de Douala la capitale des arts plastique: entretien avec Marilyn Douala Bell et Didier Schaub'' in ''Cameroun: la culture sacrifiée''. Dossier of the magazine "
Africultures
''Africultures'' is a publication of arts and culture about and from Africa and its diasporas. Based in Paris, it was founded in 1997 under the impetus of Olivier Barlet by journalists and academics such as Virginie Andriamirado, Gérald Arnaud, ...
", n. 60, L'Harmattan, July–September 2004, pp. 94–95.
* "Revue Noire"
Special Issue on Cameroon n. 13, 1994. Issue of the magazine focussed on Cameroon art scene (visual arts, literature, cinema, music and design). Talk memory also by
Simon Njami
Simon Njami (born 1962 in Lausanne) is a writer and an independent curator, lecturer, art critic and essayist.
Career Writing
Njami published his first novel, ''Cercueil et Cie'', in 1985, followed by ''Les Enfants de la Cité'' in 1987, and '' ...
, Doual'Art,
Marilyn Douala-Bell, Didier Schaub.
* Thomas Boutoux et Cédric Vincent, ''Doual'art - Africa Remix Sampler'' in ''
Africa Remix'', Paris, Centre Pompidou, 2005, p. 255.
* Christian Hanoussek, ''Cameroon: An Emerging Art Scene'' in "Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art", n. 13/14, Spring/Summer 2001, pp. 100–105.
* Dominique Malaquais, ''Quelle Liberté : Art, Beauty and the Grammars of Resistance in Douala'' in ''Beautiful/Ugly : African and diaspora aesthetics'', (dir.) Sarah Nuttall, Duke University Press Library et Prince Claus Fund, Durham et The Hague, 2006, p. 122-163. The chapter specifically refer to the artwork ''La nouvelle liberté'' by Joseph-Francis Sumégné produced by doual'art and the dynamics of this production.
* ''Douala in Translation. A view of the city and its creative transformative potentials'', edited by Doual'art and iStrike Foundation, Episode Publishers, Rotterdam, 2007. Essays about the work of doual'art produced independently by researchers and intellectuals.
* Zayd Minty, ''The Freedom to Dream'' in "Art South Africa", V6.3., 03/2008. Article on specialized magazine about the work of doual'art in particular in the neighborhood of Bessengué.
* ''Living As Form: Socially Engaged Art from 1991-2011'', ed. Nato Thompson, MIT Press, 2012, p. 148.
* Aya Bach / hw,
Art and history are shaping Cameroon's future' in DW Deutsche Welle, 03/09/2011.
* Abdoumaliq Simone, ''For the City Yet to Come: Changing African Life in Four Cities'', Duke University Press, 2004, pp. 111–117.
External links
doual'art websitedoual'art on the New Museum art spaces directly{{Authority control
Art museums and galleries in Cameroon
Buildings and structures in Douala
Culture in Douala
Arts organizations based in Cameroon
1991 establishments in Cameroon
Art museums and galleries established in 1991