The photograph of a performance by Joël Andrianomearisoa makes the front cover of the Madagascar issue of Revue Noire, in 1997. A whole symbol renewed in 2022 with this exhibition ESPRIT REVUE NOIRE UNE COLLECTION FONDATRICE, at Hakanto Contemporary, in Antananarivo, more than twenty years later.
The magazine, the publishing house and production company were founded in 1990 by Jean Loup Pivin and Pascal Martin Saint Leon (both architects, artistic directors, curators), Simon Njami (writer and curator) and Bruno Tilliette (publisher and writer).
As a magazine of investigation of contemporary African expressions, marking the years 1990–2000, Revue Noire offers a new and unknown image of the vitality of creation, modernity, the profusion of arts and artists from Africa and its diaspora. Distributed around the world, the international bilingual magazine—French/English—plays an essential role in the history of contemporary African art and reveals many artists, from visual arts to photography, from cinema to dance, from fashion to design, as well as literature by bringing out a new generation of writers.
As a pioneer, Revue Noire was the first to reveal artists in terms of contemporary African art and more particularly African photography. This exhibition shown in Antananarivo is taken from the exhibition Africa by Africans which circulated from Paris (Maison Européenne de la Photographie) to São Paulo (Biennale), from Washington (Smithsonian) to New York (New Museum of Contemporary Art) via Cape Town, Berlin, London (Barbican) or even Brussels (Tervuren)… The book Anthology of African Photography, the Indian Ocean and the Diaspora (1998) which is associated with it and each issue of Revue Noire thus is the corner stone of a history of African photography.
In the 1997 the Madagascar issue, nearly twenty Malagasy photographers were published. Today, the Revue Noire exhibition in Antananarivo, curated by Jean Loup Pivin and Pascal Martin Saint Leon, naturally focuses on the history of African photography in 140 photographs, almost all of which are original and vintage. Videos produced by Revue Noire are broadcast while all of the publications of Revue Noire are on display so that the visitor can participate in the approach of Revue Noire.
Published quarterly, each issue draws up a panorama from an editorial committee established on site, country by country. Other issues deal with a more specific issue, linked to a discipline, photography, dance, fashion or societal phenomenon such as the city, cooking or even Aids which is devastating the continent. Engaging in this fight for survival, Revue Noire produced in 1995, when no treatment existed then, African artists and Aids composed of an issue of Revue Noire, films by African filmmakers, a CD, and a program that will be broadcast on African TV channels.
This “comprehensive” work by Revue Noire is very much in the spirit of its creators. It will be found in the exhibition African Suites in Paris in 1996 where visual artists, dancers, photographers, writers, performers will be gathered in an effervescent space and emancipated walk.
Today, the publishing house still exists and pursues publications and exhibitions, as most recently in Toulouse, at the Musée des Abattoirs, presenting the various facets of Revue Noire through publishing, art, photography, music, video. It is in the same spirit that the exhibition for Hakanto Contemporary was conceived.
Jean Loup Pivin and Pascal Martin Saint Leon
ON VIEW UNTIL MAY 6 . 2023
The exhibition Esprit Revue Noire une collection fondatrice presents the works of the artists :
Joseph Moïse Agbojelou . Daniel Attoumou Amicchia – Anta agency . Cornélius Augustt Azaglo . BTEM-SGM-FTM Agency . Mama Casset . Jean Depara . Drum . Gahité Fofana . Samuel Fosso . Antoine Freitas . Dorris Haron Kasco . Rotimi Fani-Kayodé . Seydou Keïta . Philippe Koudjina . Zwelethu Mthethwa . Ambroise Ngaimoko Studio 3 Z . Yves Pitchen . Alain Nzuzi Polo . Ramilijaona . J. Randria . Joseph Razaka . Guillaume Razafitrimo . Studio Rill Maurille Andrianarivelo . Abdourahmane Sakaly . Malick Sidibé . Anonymous from Saint-Louis, Senegal
From November 26 . 2022 to May 6 . 2023 Curated by Jean Loup Pivin and Pascal Martin Saint Leon
With the artists Rose Kely Ranarivelo . Andy Rasoloharivony . Fitiavana Ratovo . Sanka
As the words flying on a blackboard, The new hand is a combination of sketches by four young Malagasy. Are they artists or not? Will they become artists? These are the questions raised! The intrigue! Indeed, here it is not a question of becoming an artist, but rather of revealing their commitment to creation, their desire to project themselves into the forms of the present or tomorrow in the beautiful youth recklessness.
At Hakanto Contemporary today, we are proud to reveal to the public four young artists, emerging figures of the new Malagasy contemporary scene through monumental and new works produced especially for the exhibition.
Rose Kely Ranarivelo, Andy Rasoloharivony, Fitiavana Ratovo and Sanka first participated in workshops organized by Hakanto Contemporary. Meetings that are regularly scheduled to encourage dialogue and exchange between artists from different disciplines. And above all to reveal new energies.
Imagined as spaces for discussion and collective reflection, these meetings have not only helped to identify the four young artists of this exhibition, but also accompanied them in the development of their creativity. At this stage of their career, they are all still in seeking their own process. They continue to explore aesthetic possibilities through and from their own matters to the point of experimenting with other mediums and other forms. The specific mentorship they received in preparation for this exhibition emphasized the importance of maintaining this curiosity in each of their work approaches.
Since the beginning, these young artists are driven by the desire to take new steps in their work. They have a desire to move forward, as well as to find new directions for their work, to enrich it and give it new perspectives. These aspiring artists are looking for a way to get out of their own comfort, out of their rules and out of their solitude. Despite the uncertain context of the future, they are determined to pursue it. The desire to experiment, to express themselves or simply to exist on every gesture, proposal, and material.
Images, metal, terracotta, textiles, or paper … the materials are combined in contrast between confrontation and dialogue. They reflect a form of plurality which finds its genesis in the remarks of the works, all nourished by personal stories and social experiences of each one. This is what makes the charm and the spirit of the first artworks in general, and the quality of the pieces of these young artists in particular, they reveal themselves to the world as self-portraits of their authors. In the specific case of these installations, the strength of each proposal lies in this form of balance and accuracy, because there is no more delicate exercise than talking about oneself and one’s own universe, with the dilemma raised by the formulas and the representations.
TSARASAOTRA Through her family history, Rose Kely Ranarivelo reinterprets through her piece a moment she particularly likes: Tsarasaotra. Through several mediums such as ceramics, wood, painting, the artist restores on a dreamt table the components of this family moment. Drawing on the essences of his dual French-Malagasy culture, the installation resonates with cultural and social references in terms of taste and aesthetics.
IRAY LALANA To realize his work, Fitiavana Ratovo has adopted a popular technique of construction. This series of sculpted metal sheets installed as gallery portraits, represents the members of a community who share the same vision, the same values and the same future. Iray lalana—which literally means sharing the same path—sounds like a wish for a collective awareness of our society in crisis.
L’URGENCE DE LA FOI Through the strength of the material and the power of the image, Andy Rasoloharivony invites and engages the viewer to step into a church to experience L’urgence de la foi. In a striking game of contrast, the artist illustrates strong symbols of the christian faith in the middle of a construction site. The natural daylight, which seeps into this mystical and sacred space, brings the experience to its climax.
IRETO MASO MIJERY AHY MIBANJINA ANAO MAMPITAMBERINA NY LASA NY VITA NATAO Sanka takes us into the depth and power of the eyes, the window to the soul. She presents a first work that emphasizes her long experience as a portrait drawer. This piece is composed of a series of original portraits and some sketches along the black entrance of the gallery. Through this installation, the artist recalls her beginnings in drawing.
The new hand, a drawing of the future full of uncertainty, but with the certainty of four young hopes with their desires to do and shape their time.
Between a retrospective and a tribute, the exhibition is dedicated to Emile Rakotondrazaka, better known as Ramily or affectionately called Dadamily. Indeed, Ramily is the father of Malagasy contemporary black and white photography. The exhibition will be a moment to highlight the genius of a photographer, a pioneer of the black and white, and an outstanding laboratory worker.
EMILE RAKOTONDRAZAKA . RAMILY
Emile Rakotondrazaka, also known as Ramily or Dadamily, was born on September 25, 1939, in Antohomadinika, a district of the city of Antananarivo. The eldest of 10 siblings, he is the son of the carpenter Rakotozafy and Razanapanalina.
At the age of ten, in 1949, he was raised by Pastor Rasolonjatovo, whose son was a photographer. His first encounter with photography began when he followed his “adoptive” brother to carry out “identity card operations” in the towns and villages of Madagascar, whilst Madagascar was still under colonial rule.
In 1956, at the age of 17, Ramily worked as an assistant photo laboratory technician at PHOTOFLEX, located in Analakely, Avenue de l’Indépendance, and run by the French photographer Mesli d’Arloze. His talents in developing darkroom photography techniques began to draw his attention. His employer greatly appreciated his mastery of chemical processes, and Ramily excelled as a laboratory technician.
In 1968, he opened his first development laboratory—still very modest but already very well known—in the historic area of Ankadifotsy, in the basement of a bookstore run by his wife.
Two years later, in 1970, he moved to Itaosy, where he relocated his development laboratory, which had become larger and more sophisticated. A first for Madagascar, he then created a photography studio and later on, would even start a wooden framing workshop.
Between the 1970s and 2000s, Ramily successively exhibited in the premises of Air Madagascar, at the Albert Camus Cultural Centre (now the French Institute of Madagascar), at the CITE (Centre d’Information Technique et Économique [Technical and Economic Information Centre]), at Alliance Française de Tananarive and even in the streets of the city of Antananarivo, with a group of photographer friends. He has also participated in several editions of the Mois de la Photo, the Photoana Festival, and a biennial of photographic encounters in the Indian Ocean, which all took place in Antananarivo. On two occasions, the international magazine “Revue Noire” even devoted articles to him.
Ramily is also a founding member of two photographers’ associations including the “Association des Photographes de Madagascar” and the “Association des Photographes de Tananarive.”
Among his last public appearances, in 2007, he participated in an international exhibition of contemporary art, “30 et Presque-Songes” initiated by Joël Andrianomearisoa in Antananarivo.
An icon of photography, Ramily is the reference point for silver prints in Madagascar, with his career reaching its peak from the 1970s. He stopped his work as a laboratory technician in 2003, the year he suffered a heart attack. Ramily passed away on March 26, 2017, in Antananarivo, leaving behind hundreds of poetic landscapes, carefully crafted prints, black and white wedding and solemn event shots. Above all, he left an unprecedented passion for photography, generously shared with younger generations of photographers.
Ry Tanindrazanay malala ô ! Ry Madagasikara soa, Ny fitiavanay anao tsy miala, Fa ho anao ho anao doria tokoa.
Oh our cherished country! Oh beautiful Madagascar, Our love for you remains, And will remain forever.
Following the tradition of nearly two years of exhibitions at Hakanto Contemporary, we systematically question context, history and our present, and allude to the future.
For this new opus, while not turning our back on custom, our message revolves around the idea of nation – country – land. And that past – present – future continues to set the tempo for this new musicality.
The land We often speak of this red island, this scrap of country off a continent’s coast, out in the ocean, far from the world’s shore. We. We from the great ocean, as Serge Henri Rodin so appropriately insists. Madagascar. Surrounded by sea and still a great mystery.
Statement ? Questioning ? Love ? Distance ? Independence ? The idea is not to provide answers, but rather to form an emotional observation using multidisciplinary formulae. Actions in black and white leading to the assertion of a colourless flag. Hearts torn to enable the ink of hope to pour out. A song of love springing from religious effluvia. Or possibly a family dish transformed into fireworks from the height of our pain. There are various answers. Some lie in dialogue and some in confrontation, but also in tension.
Act of love Ny fitiavanay So here is a declaration of love from 26 Malagasy artists to their dear land. 26 referring to 60. 26 artists. 60 years of independence. How can we make the present with this anniversary? How can we break down history? Or reshape histories? And how can we tell the story of the future?
Reshape one’s history, Rewrite one’s memory, Slip anchors, Change one’s roots, And build, build, again and forever.
Michèle Rakotoson
Ny tena sy fo fanahy anananay Our body, our heart and our soul
An echoing melody that allows hearts and souls to speak with boundless freedom. Yes, let us speak, for it is time.
– Joël Andrianomearisoa . September 2021
Ry Tanindrazanay malala ô Madagascar national anthem since 1958 Lyrics . Pastor Rahajason Music . Norbert Raharisoa
Group exhibition :mentalKLINIK . Rina Ralay-Ranaivo . Temandrota
A proposal by Joël Andrianomearisoa
Hakanto Contemporary Antananarivo
Exposition from 27 February to 4 September 2021
Beyond all you are mine.
A joyful affirmation in a time where the future remains uncertain. The end seems far away! And what will tomorrow be? A declaration of life at a time when we lack breath. How to breathe? With whom to breathe? An assurance of strong friendship even when the world today seems helpless. Will we ever dance? A kiss? A state of love when naive patriotism points its nose too much.
Three artists deliver themselves to affirm that we are still together, inspired and alive. The breath of time belongs to us and our desires go beyond all horizons.
The first is a Malagasy force. Temandrota. He manipulates the earth, he kneads the fire, he triturates our hearts to give new resonances. In his immersive installation Kolondoy, he sketches new territories, new playgrounds to confront us with the questions of tomorrow and our deepest desires.
The second, from the Bosphorus to the banks of the Ikopa, the :mentalKLINIK blur the tracks of a game between materiality, luminosity and sentimentality. Without geography except that of the emotion. Between the idea of 2, 3 or more … The couple :mentalKLINIK invites us to question the idea of a new love and especially the one we carry on Antananarivo. Another love.
And the third, Rina Ralay Ranaivo who shares his heart between Antananarivo, Berlin and elsewhere, invokes in his piece Chapitre I, his fantasies, our ancestors and History along an imaginary river to cross. Once again, crossing water, crossing time, crossing the other, crossing borders, to find ourselves and to affirm that beyond everything you are mine.
To make the desire, the desire to be in the world, to slip into the caress of the wind, and let yourself be carried away.
Exhibition from 08 February 2020 to 08 February 2021
“I am nothing. I will never be anything. I could not wish to be nothing. That aside, I hold all the dreams of the world within me.”
Fernando Pessoa
Here is here. From here, we look out on the world; from here we dream the world too. Let us muse, let us speak of dreams, let us dream – for by dreaming, we can assert a new Madagascan energy through its current creative forms with regard to artists and forms of expression from other places.
There are no prescribed media in the message. The exhibition asserts the polyphony of forms in an exploration of time, with all its illusions and realities. The menu is not a set one. The menu knows no borders. Chef Lalaina Ravelomanana sets the tone, offering a fresh take on a popular Madagascan dish to the beat of Kristel’s Nofy rock.
The framework is the game, the diversity, the rule. A timeless couple from Istanbul, :mentalKLINIK, reinvents a new love, a new game of love, opposite the new words sketched by Môssieur Njo. With a diversity of lines, the young designer Domi Sanji merges his lands, confronting Alexandre Gourçon’s infinite folds. Ramily, the half-forgotten father of contemporary Madagascan photography, rediscovers light in his iconic series spanning desert and luxuriant vegetation. Plastic artist Donn sets his work between nightmare and affection, while choreographer Judith Manantenasoa summons up the sweetness of chaos. All bathed in our wild Madagascan melancholy, with a perpetual literary dialogue between Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo and Elie Rajaonarison.
Improbable encounters that motivate and surprise. Craft meets song. Photography is dress. Words become canvases. Let us weave literature, light fires, dance architecture, speak of fashion and clothe the present. Let us embroider cuisine and smell the flowers. Dreams are my reality, another kind of reality. The dreams of Iarivo. The reveries of the world. Let us drift away. Let us dream.
For here in Madagascar, we reach all the dreams of the world.
Hakanto Contemporary celebrates and supports artistic creativity in Madagascar.
Dedicated to showcasing the richness of contemporary Malagasy art, the non-profit independent space for artists, was launched in February 2020.
Under the artistic direction of Joël Andrianomearisoa, the 300 m² space – located in the Ankadimbahoaka district in the south of the capital Antananarivo – contributes to dialogues between local and international art scenes, whilst affirming the uniqueness of Malagasy culture.
Free to visit and open to all, Hakanto Contemporary offers a meeting place for artists and audiences across the globe. Alongside an ongoing exhibition programme of group and solo exhibitions showcasing work from across Madagascar and beyond, Hakanto Contemporary offers spaces dedicated to artist residencies. Working to accelerate exchanges, strengthen skills and initiate creative projects which both represent and support the local art scene.
Hakanto Contemporary is supported by the Fonds Yavarhoussen. Understanding that art and culture are essential pillars of development, the Fonds Yavarhoussen endowment fund promotes creativity for future generations.
HASNAINE YAVARHOUSSEN
Hasnaine Yavarhoussen is the CEO of Groupe Filatex and the founder of the Fonds Yavarhoussen. Understanding that art and culture are essential pillars of development, the Fonds Yavarhoussen endowment fund promotes Malagasy art and culture for future generations.
In 2019 the Fonds Yavarhoussen supported Madagascar’s first-ever national pavilion at the 58th Venice Art Biennale, led by Malagasy artist Joël Andrianomearisoa. In 2020 they launched Hakanto Contemporary in Antananarivo, Madagascar: the country’s first multi-purpose (non-profit) art space which is dedicated to showcasing the richness of contemporary Malagasy art, and also provides artist residencies.
At Groupe Filatex, Hasnaine Yavarhoussen has grown the family-owned business internationally, transforming the Group’s energy subsidiary into the largest IPP producer in Madagascar. Hasnaine Yavarhoussen has also overseen Groupe Filatex’s various CSR activities, which has involved the implementation of 32 philanthropic programmes in Madagascar.
In 2018 and 2019, Hasnaine Yavarhoussen was selected for the Choiseul 100 Africa ranking, a publication which recognizes 200 of the most successful African leaders under the age of 40.
Born in 1977 in Antananarivo, Madagascar, he lives and works between Paris and Antananarivo.
Joël Andrianomearisoa is the artistic director of Hakanto Contemporary, Madagascar.
Joël Andrianomearisoa founded and leads the artistic development and curation at Hakanto Contemporary since its opening in February 2020, uniting his roles as both an artist and a supporter of the cultural and artistic promotion of Madagascar internationally. He represented Madagascar at the 58th Biennale di Venezia in 2019, and his work has been exhibited in leading global institutions including MAXXI, Rome; Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin; the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington DC and the Centre Pompidou, Paris. As a cultural supporter, he founded 30 and Presque-Songes (2007, 2011), a multi-platform project dedicated to the works of Malagasy poet Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo. He has also collaborated on the Sanga dance festival (2003) and Photoana festival (2005).
FONDS YAVARHOUSSEN
The Fonds Yavarhoussen is an endowment fund initiated by Hasnaine Yavarhoussen, Managing Director of the Filatex energy-production group, operator of free zones and property, and infrastructure developer.
Created in 2019, Fonds Yavarhoussen promotes the dynamism of Madagascar’s contemporary art scene and the singular nature of its culture, within Madagascar, and internationally. Introducing, backing and supporting Malagasy creativity and innovation for future generations are among the objectives laid down by the Fonds Yavarhoussen.
