Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

ART

Kissing art exhibition vandalized in France

A series of blown-up portraits of straight and gay couples kissing has been vandalized in western France, with the artist himself questioning whether romance in France was only a "heterosexual concept".

Published: 5 August 2015 17:48 CEST

Kissing art exhibition vandalized in France

One of the slashed pictures from the exhibition. Photo: Thibault Stipal/Facebook

Could France be losing it's title as the country of romance?

This is the country where you're likely to see locals and tourists alike engaged in the most passionate of embraces… where films, TV series, and photographs have become famous for their own versions of the “French kiss”.

But this could all be changing, or at least in the western town of Royan in Charente-Maritime. There, at least one local has apparently struggled to accept seeing images of people kissing.

The portraits, taken by artist Thibault Stipal, show topless people with varying skin colours, sexual preferences, and ages sharing kisses. They were erected near a children's park and were slashed up over the weekend.

(Another of the slashed pictures from the exhibition. Photo: Thibault Stipal/Facebook)

The artist has now taken to his Facebook page to share images of the damage, telling his fans the act left him “saddened” – but explained that it's not all been negative reviews.

“Some people have written love messages on the photos and others have cut it with knives,” he told The Local on Wednesday.

And he suspects that it was the images of same-sex kissers that riled the vandals.

“Maybe French romance is a heterosexual concept because people here have got a real problem with gays I think,” he added.

“People who disagree with my exhibition tell that it's because it was installed in a park where children play but it's hypocrisy. There's nothing shocking in my project, it's simply photos of people kissing.”

While he added that he was sure the vandals were only “a small percentage” of the public, their actions mean the damage won't be repaired.

Royan's deputy mayor Didier Quentin told BFMTV that the “foolish act of intolerance” mean art would not reappear this summer, as the costs of reproducing the work and the risk of repeat attacks were too high.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.

Become a Member to leave a comment.

African-born director's new vision for Berlin cultural magnet

The “Haus der Kulturen der Welt” (House of World Cultures), or HKW, was built by the Americans in 1956 during the Cold War for propaganda purposes, at a time when Germany was still divided.

New director Ndikung said it had been located “strategically” so that people on the other side of the Berlin Wall, in the then-communist East, could see it.

This was “representing freedom” but “from the Western perspective”, the 46-year-old told AFP.

Now Ndikung, born in Cameroon before coming to study in Germany 26 years ago, wants to transform it into a place filled with “different cultures of the world”.

The centre, by the river Spree, is known locally as the “pregnant oyster” due to its sweeping, curved roof. It does not have its own collections but is home to exhibition rooms and a 1,000-seat auditorium.

It reopened in June after renovations, and Ndikung’s first project “Quilombismo” fits in with his aims of expanding the centre’s offerings.

The exhibition takes its name from the Brazilian term “Quilombo”, referring to the communities formed in the 17th century by African slaves, who fled to remote parts of the South American country.

Throughout the summer, there will also be performances, concerts, films, discussions and an exhibition of contemporary art from post-colonial societies across Africa, the Americas, Asia and Oceania.

‘Rethink the space’

“We have been trying to… rethink the space. We invited artists to paint walls… even the floor,” Ndikung said.

And part of the “Quilombismo” exhibition can be found glued to the floor -African braids laced together, a symbol of liberation for black people, which was created by Zimbabwean artist Nontsikelelo Mutiti.

According to Ndikung, African slaves on plantations sometimes plaited their hair in certain ways as a kind of coded message to those seeking to escape, showing them which direction to head.

READ ALSO: Germany hands back looted artefacts to Nigeria

His quest for aestheticism is reflected in his appearance: with a colourful suit and headgear, as well as huge rings on his fingers, he rarely goes unnoticed.

During his interview with AFP, Ndikung was wearing a green scarf and cap, a blue-ish jacket and big, sky-blue shoes.

With a doctorate in medical biology, he used to work as an engineer before devoting himself to art.

In 2010, he founded the Savvy Gallery in Berlin, bringing together art from the West and elsewhere, and in 2017 was one of the curators of Documenta, a prestigious contemporary art event in the German city of Kassel.

Convinced of the belief that history “has been written by a particular type of people, mostly white and men,” Ndikung has had all the rooms in the HKW renamed after women.

These are figures who have “done something important in the advancement of the world” but were “erased” from history, he added. Among them is Frenchwoman Paulette Nardal, born in Martinique in 1896.

She helped inspire the creation of the “negritude” movement, which aimed to develop black literary consciousness, and was the first black woman to study at the Sorbonne in Paris.

Reassessing history

Ndikung’s appointment at the HKW comes as awareness grows in Germany about its colonial past, which has long been overshadowed by the atrocities committed during the era of Adolf Hitler’s Nazis.

Berlin has in recent years started returning looted objects to African countries which it occupied in the early 20th century — Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Namibia and Cameroon.

“It’s long overdue,” said Ndikung.

He was born in Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, into an anglophone family.

The country is majority francophone but also home to an anglophone minority and has faced deadly unrest in English-speaking areas, where armed insurgents are fighting to establish an independent homeland.

One of his dreams is to open a museum in Cameroon “bringing together historical and contemporary objects” from different countries, he said.

He would love to locate it in Bamenda, the capital of Cameroon’s restive Northwest region.

“But there is a war in Bamenda, so I can’t,” he says.

Url copied to clipboard!