Miquel Barceló's African Notebooks and Dante Illustrations

Miquel Barceló has released three publications: an illustrated edition of Dante's Divine Comedy, his African sketchbooks (Carnets d'Afrique), and a photography book by Jean-Marie Del Moral. The Divine Comedy illustrations, based on Jacqueline Risset's translation, use watercolor to liquefy Dante's worlds, dissolving figures into mirage-like forms. Carnets d'Afrique chronicles twelve years of Barceló's annual stays in Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Tangier since 1988, focusing on the Dogon country near Gogoli, where he built a house on a cliff edge. The artist describes his life there, including friendships, administrative hassles, and race relations, with acerbic commentary on French presence in Africa. He recounts finding a dead baby on the cliff and covering it with stones, a story he had never told before. Barceló admits his journal is fundamentally dishonest, omitting decisive events while filling pages with trivial details. He reflects on the purpose of seemingly unproductive weeks in Ségou, concluding that essential work decants during dead time. The artist compares his exile to Rimbaud and Gauguin but notes he always returns to Europe. He defines 'mal d'Afrique' as insomnia, diarrhea, wind, dust, heat, and boredom punctuated by flashes of absolute happiness. Jean-Marie Del Moral's photographs of Barceló's African studio were shown at Galerie Suzanne Tarasiève in Paris in winter 2003 and will be exhibited at IVAM in Valencia from January 20 to March 21, 2004.