Antoni Clavé in Abidjan

From 23 March to 27 May 2023, the Donwahi Foundation in Abidjan will be hosting the exhibition Antoni Clavé, L’Esprit du Guerrier, which was presented at the Palazzo Franchetti during the last Venice Biennale in 2022. In this next chapter, the exhibition presents a new reading of Antoni Clavé’s art in Côte d’Ivoire. It is an opportunity to take an unprecedented look at a land rich in age-old traditions, while renewing the dialogue that the artist had begun with African art in the early 1960s.

Homage, admiration, appropriation, Clavé’s connection with the arts of Africa is multi-faceted. The exhibition is also an opportunity to change our perception of the figure of the warrior in the art of Antoni Clavé. It was his favorite subject; returning like a refrain, an incantation, almost a spell, throughout his artistic career. It is through the prism of the memory of African masks that visitors are offered an original take on the art of Antoni Clavé. Recalling the links between the traditional arts of Africa and modern and contemporary art, the exhibition gives the Ivorian public the opportunity to explore this bridge between two continents, with Africa a source of inspiration for European artists.