{"id":212266,"date":"2025-06-25T04:55:13","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T04:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/212266\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T04:55:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T04:55:13","slug":"romeo-mivekannins-cage-like-sculptures-of-museums-reframe-the-colonial-past-colossal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/212266\/","title":{"rendered":"Rom\u00e9o Mivekannin’s Cage-Like Sculptures of Museums Reframe the Colonial Past \u2014 Colossal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Known for bold, chiaroscuro paintings that reimagine European art historical masterworks in his own likeness, Rom\u00e9o Mivekannin<\/a> is interested in the Western, colonial gaze on Africa and the power of archives to reveal underrepresented or untold stories. Born on the Ivory Coast, Mivekannin splits his time between Toulouse, France, and Cotonou, Benin. His practice interrogates visibility, appropriation, and power dynamics through direct and unflinching pieces spanning acrylic painting, installation, and sculpture.<\/p>\n

At Art Basel last weekend, in collaboration with Galerie Barbara Thumm<\/a> and C\u00e9cile Fakhoury<\/a>, Mivekannin presented a large-scale installation titled Atlas, comprising a series of metal buildings suspended from the ceiling. Modeled after institutional buildings\u2014in this case, museums that house enthographic<\/a> collections\u2014the artist draws attention to the colonialist practices and ethical gray areas that permeate these spaces and their histories. <\/p>\n

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Often founded upon controversial or dubiously-acquired personal collections of European urban elites, larger museums historically emphasized what was seen as \u201cprimitive\u201d or \u201cexotic,\u201d exhibiting a skewed view of world cultures framed by a colonialist mindset. The British Museum, for example, was established in 1753 upon the death of Sir Hans Sloane, whose collection of more than 80,000 \u201cnatural and artificial rarities\u201d provided the institution\u2019s foundation. His wealth\u2014and his collection\u2014was amassed in part through enslaved labor on his sugar plantations in Jamaica.<\/p>\n

Another well-known example of problematic collections include thousands of Benin Bronzes<\/a>, housed in European institutions like the British Museum and others. British forces acquired many of these elaborately decorated plaques through pillage and looting in the late 19th century. Today, some museums have agreed to repatriate the bronzes to redress this historical indignity (the British Museum is still in discussions).<\/p>\n

As a student of both art and architecture, Mivekannin taps into the way certain structures and built environments are designed to convey prestige and dominance. He is also currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the National Superior School of Architecture of Montpellier (ENSAM).<\/p>\n

In Atlas, the structures take on the form of bird cages suspended from chains. Both elements symbolize captivity, likening ethnographic collections that often include human remains<\/a> to what the Atlas exhibition statement describes as \u201chuman zoos.\u201d In this context, the cages \u201cserve as a reminder of the historical practices that sought to control and exploit \u2018the Other.’\u201d<\/p>\n

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Mivekannin bridges past and present in this installation, inviting viewers to walk around the museums within a space that shifts the power dynamic. The work encourages viewers \u201cto confront uncomfortable truths about colonial legacies and their ongoing impact on our contemporary society.\u201d<\/p>\n

The artist scales down the museums\u2019 palatial details to a diminutive size, displayed low, taking into consideration a kind of meta experience of the exhibition itself. In Mivekannin\u2019s portrayal, the structures are both the cages and the caged.<\/p>\n

A show of the artist\u2019s paintings, Black Mirror, is currently on view at Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia, Italy, through July 27. See more on the artist\u2019s Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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