Ô Cameroon! Anthology Charts a Century of Cameroonian Art Across 180 Artists
Titled Ô Cameroon!, a comprehensive 424-page book chronicles the visual art history of Cameroon from 1919 to 2025, showcasing the works of 180 artists. Curated by Ozong Agborsangaya-Fiteu, it will be unveiled at the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London this October, with additional presentations scheduled in Abidjan, Paris, Douala, and Yaoundé. The publication features pieces from royal carvers in Foumban and modern artists, including contributions from Roxane Mbanga, Koko Komégné, and Koyo Kouoh. Em'kal Eyongakpa's work addresses the anglophone conflict. Agborsangaya-Fiteu describes the book as a means of "cultural recovery," alluding to the 1919 division of German Kamerun and the 1961 UN plebiscite. Mbanga aspires for it to motivate young diaspora artists to "dream bigger."
Key facts
- Ô Cameroon! is a 424-page book featuring 180 artists and covering Cameroonian art from 1919 to 2025
- The volume launches at the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London in October, with events planned in Abidjan, Paris, Douala and Yaoundé
- Ozong Agborsangaya-Fiteu, an Abidjan-based collector and development finance executive, conceived and curated the project
- Koko Komégné died three weeks after submitting his contribution; Koyo Kouoh, the first African woman to curate the Venice Biennale, died of cancer last year
- Roxane Mbanga, 30, is among the 180 artists and grew up in Paris around her father's restaurant Maasai Mara
- Em'kal Eyongakpa's included project sǒbàtú was inspired by a video smuggled out of a torture chamber during the anglophone crisis
- The book is organized non-chronologically and spans anglophone and francophone regions of Cameroon
- Agborsangaya-Fiteu describes the book as an act of cultural recovery and restitution, invoking the proverb about the lion and the hunter
Entities
Artists
- Roxane Mbanga
- Koko Komégné
- Koyo Kouoh
- Ozong Agborsangaya-Fiteu
- Em'kal Eyongakpa
- Ateu Atsa
- Sultan Njoya
- Henri Matisse
- Pablo Picasso
- Constantin Brâncuși
- Paul Biya
Institutions
- 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair
- Venice Biennale
- Maasai Mara
- The Guardian
- United Nations
Locations
- Cameroon
- Foumban
- Douala
- Yaoundé
- London
- United Kingdom
- Abidjan
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Paris
- France
- Germany
- Kamerun
- Nigeria
- Southern Cameroons
- Northern Cameroons
- Amsterdam
- Netherlands