91传媒

Wilfried Nakeu听: 脌 corps rituel/ Ritual Bodies

芦听Je r茅cup猫re des archives photographiques de partout, et je recr茅e des images, je les remod猫le, je sculpte. Dans les images que je cr茅e, il y en a qui ont un caract猫re rituel, d鈥檃utres qui ont un caract猫re tr猫s politique, tr猫s engag茅. Mais je ne me vois pas comme un artiste politique ni apolitique. Simplement, dans le mat茅riel que je manipule et que j鈥檜tilise, il y a de la politique. Ce qui m鈥檌nt茅resse, c鈥檈st d鈥檃bord une r茅paration personnelle avant d鈥櫭猼re une r茅paration collective. Avec le collage, j鈥檃i la force de pouvoir dire des choses sans ouvrir la bouche. 禄听鈥� Wilfried Nakeu, 2026.

Wilfried Nakeu (n茅 en 1990 脿 Yaound茅) est un artiste camerounais dont la pratique multim茅dia traverse la peinture, le collage, la performance, le son, le texte et la vid茅o. Il collabore notamment avec le photographe nig茅rian Emeka Okereke, le peintre et sculpteur camerounais Alioum Moussa, ainsi qu鈥檃vec la regrett茅e commissaire d鈥檈xposition nig茅riane Bisi Silva. Il a 茅galement travaill茅 avec OTHNI 鈥� Laboratoire de Th茅芒tre de Yaound茅. En 2018, il est laur茅at du programme Goethe-D茅couverte (Goethe-Institut Cameroun). En 2022, Wilfried Nakeu fait partie des artistes associ茅s au projet de MO Laudi, commissaire de l鈥檈xposition et du programme de recherche Globalisto. Une philosophie en mouvement / A philosophy in flux, pr茅sent茅 au MAMC+ Saint-脡tienne M茅tropole. Globalisto est con莽u comme une plateforme articulant philosophie africaine contemporaine, 茅cologie, d茅colonialit茅 et spiritualit茅s. Il est rep茅r茅 sur la sc猫ne vid茅o et des arts num茅riques avec l鈥櫯搖vre Reconnexion Spirituelle des Politiques Africaines, pr茅sent茅e par Yaound茅 Photo Network et distingu茅e lors du Festival OVNi (Prix Cosmopolis, 2022).

L鈥檈xposition de Wilfried Nakeu, pr茅sent茅e 脿 AUP, met en avant une pratique du collage con莽ue comme op茅ration critique. De John Heartfield 脿 Romare Bearden ou Deborah Roberts, le collage s鈥檈st impos茅, au XX岬� si猫cle, comme un outil permettant d鈥檃ctiver la charge politique d鈥檌mages pr茅existantes, en faisant 茅merger, par le montage, des significations latentes.

Bien qu鈥檌l travaille 脿 partir d鈥檌mages digitales, Nakeu tient 脿 redonner aux images une forte mat茅rialit茅 et 脿 pr茅server, dans le processus de montage, la part de hasard ainsi que la marge d鈥檈rreur avec lesquelles la main de l鈥檃rtiste doit composer, et qu鈥檜n logiciel tendrait 脿 gommer. Le collage fonctionne ici comme un dispositif de d茅voilement, capable de transformer le mat茅riau visuel brut en espace de confrontation radicale.

En relation avec la pr茅sentation de son travail 脿 AUP, une performance de l鈥檃rtiste sera donn茅e le jeudi 18 f茅vrier. [TBA]

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Wilfried Nakeu听: 脌 corps rituel / Ritual Bodies

鈥�I collect photographic archives from everywhere, and I recreate images鈥擨 reshape them, I sculpt them. Among the images I create, some have a ritual character, others have a very political, very protest-oriented character. But I don鈥檛 see myself as either a political artist or an apolitical one. Simply put, in the material I handle and use, there is politics. What interests me first is a personal repair before it becomes a collective repair. With collage, I have the strength to say things without opening my mouth.鈥澨�鈥� Wilfried Nakeu, 2026.

Wilfried Nakeu (born in 1990 in Yaound茅) is a Cameroonian artist whose multimedia practice spans painting, collage, performance, sound, text, and video. He has collaborated, notably, with the Nigerian photographer Emeka Okereke, the Cameroonian painter and sculptor Alioum Moussa, as well as the late Nigerian curator Bisi Silva. He has also worked with OTHNI 鈥� Laboratoire de Th茅芒tre de Yaound茅. In 2018, he was a recipient of the Goethe-D茅couverte programme (Goethe-Institut Cameroon). In 2022, Wilfried Nakeu was among the artists associated with a project by MO Laudi, curator of the exhibition and the research programme Globalisto. Une philosophie en mouvement / A Philosophy in Flux, presented at the MAMC+ Saint-脡tienne M茅tropole. Globalisto is conceived as a platform articulating contemporary African philosophy, ecology, decoloniality, and spiritualities. He has been identified on the video and digital arts scene with the work Reconnexion Spirituelle des Politiques Africaines, presented by Yaound茅 Photo Network and awarded at the OVNi Festival (Cosmopolis Prize, 2022).

The exhibition of Wilfried Nakeu, presented at AUP, highlights a practice of collage conceived as a critical process. From John Heartfield to Romare Bearden or Deborah Roberts, collage established itself in the twentieth century as a tool for activating the political charge of pre-existing images, bringing latent meanings to the surface through montage.

Although he works from digital images, Nakeu is committed to restoring a strong materiality to images and to preserving, within the process of montage, the element of chance as well as the margin of error with which the artist鈥檚 hand must contend, and which software would tend to suppress. Collage functions here as a form of unveiling, capable of transforming raw visual material into a space of radical confrontation.

In connection with the presentation of his work at AUP, a performance by the artist will take place on Thursday, 18 February. [TBA]