“Le Cameroun c’est le Cameroun” is a famous formula invented by President Paul Biya to articulate a presumed pathological matrix in which the country has been caught throughout the postcolonial era. This proverb falsely suggests that Cameroon is only speakable through Cameroon – an exceptionalist Visual Arts discourse frequently used by dictatorial regimes across the world. Through this careful and timely study, Annette Schemmel reconnects the country’s own visual arts history to trends, discourses and inherent blind spots in the global art system from the second half of the 20th century onward. On her way, the Annette Schemmel author also slays the myth-monument of the “Autodidact African Artist”. in Cameroon Ntone Edjabe Founder and Editor Chimurenga A Genealogy Annette Schemmel provides a highly illuminating case study of the major actors, discourses and paradigm that shaped the history of visual arts in Cameroon during the second part of the 20th century. Her book meticulously of Non-formal reconstructs the multiple ways of artistic knowledge acquisition – from the consolidation of the “Système de Grands Frères” in the 1970s to the emergence of more discursively oriented small artists’ initiatives which responded to the growing NGO market of social practice art opportunities in the 2000s. Training Based on archival research, participant observation and in depth interviews with art practitioners in Douala and Yaoundé, this study is a must read for Visual Arts in Cameroon everyone who wants to better understand the vibrant artistic scenes in countries like Cameroon, which until today lack a proper state-funded infrastructure in 1976-2014 the arts. Tobias Wendl Chair for the Arts of Africa Free University Berlin Finally a book on informal training, a phenomenon that has proven to be so important to 20th century visual art in Cameroon! Paul-Henri S. Assako Assako Head of the Art History and Fine Art Section University of Yaoundé I 1976 Annette Schemmel is invested in Africa’s contemporary cultures as art historian, curator, and writer. She holds a degree in art pedagogy from Munich Art Academy besides her art-historical dissertation from Free University Berlin, which led to the book at hand. Annette Schemmel Langaa Research & Publishing CIG -2014 Artistic Knowledge Sharing A Historical Case Study of the Non-formal Training of Visual Artists in Yaounde and Douala, Cameroon zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades eingereicht am Fachbereich Geschichts- und Kulturwissenschaften der Freien Universität Berlin im Juli 2014 vorgelegt von Annette Schemmel, Berlin Erstgutachter: Prof. Tobias Wend] Zweitgutachterin: Prof Kerstin Pinther Tag der Disputation: 15. Januar 2015 Visual Arts in Cameroon Annette Schemmel Visual Arts in Cameroon A Genealogy of Non-formal Training 1976-2014 Langaa Research & Publishing CIG Mankon, Bamenda Publisher: Langaa RPCIG Langaa Research & Publishing Common Initiative Group P.O. Box 902 Mankon Bamenda North West Region Cameroon [email protected] www.langaa-rpcig.net Distributed in and outside N. America by African Books Collective [email protected] www.africanbookcollective.com ISBN: 9956-763-60-8 © Annette Schemmel 2015 Cover illustration: Pascale Marthine Tayou, Colonne Pascale, 2010, commission for Salon Urbain de Douala 2010, photo by the author. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying and recording, or be stored in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher Visual Arts in Cameroon A Genealogy of Non-formal Training 1976-2014 Annette Schemmel Langaa Research & Publishing CIG Mankon, Bamenda To my parents Acknowledgements Two artists have convinced me that it was worthwhile to pursue this endeavour; namely, Marjolijn Dijkman and Christian Hanussek. To them and to all the other artists and teachers, who have inspired my love for visual art I would like to express my admiration and my gratitude. This holds especially true for all our colleagues in and from Cameroon, who in addition to creating compelling work, have kindly shared their life-stories and their insights. You have opened a new world for me! My dear friend Claudia Sorhage has been my closest reader and interlocutor in this project. I am humbled by her generosity and amazed by her art-historical and critical acumen. I am also grateful to the academics Joachim Oelsner-Adam, Dominique Malaquais, Kerstin Pinther, Michaela Oberhofer and Paul-Henri Souvenir Assako Assako for their benevolent interest, expertise and critical feedback. I am particularly indebted to my PhD advisor Tobias Wendl, who took the time to carefully read and offer constructive advice on my drafts. His anthropologically informed perspective added an important dimension to my research process, as did the dynamic and exceptionally open-minded debates that I participated in during the first years of the newly-founded Department for the Art of Africa at Free University Berlin. It remains to be mentioned that this study would not have been possible without the Elsa-Neumann- Stipendium, a research grant by the Land Berlin. My friends, my family, my husband Paul and my daughter Lilo helped me to keep it all in perspective. Thank you for bearing with me. Table of Contents Foreword 13 Chapter 1. Introduction 15 Important Terms and Theories 19 Dismantling the Myth of the Autodidact Artist 24 Scholarship to Date 28 Methodological Reflections 36 Organisation of Chapters 44 Chapter 2. Antecedents: The Emergence of Modern Art in Cameroon 47 Ibrahim Njoya and the Bamum Drawings 50 Engelbert Mveng, an Artist/Curator in Cassock 59 Learning Art the Non-formal Way in the 1950s: The Case of Martin Abossolo 72 Being an Art Academic After Independence: The Case of Gaspar Gomán 81 The Quest for an “Authentic” National Culture in the Public Discourse and its Impact on Visual Art 87 The Institutional Void 98 Chapter 3. Collective Action and Intergenerational Solidarity among Artists (1976-1991) 103 President Paul Biya is the New Amadou Ahidjo: The Political Context 105 A Shift in Agency: New Organisations by Art Amateurs and Artists 106 The Système de Grands Frères 117 A Mediator between Art and Academia: The Grand Frère Pascal Kenfack 119 The Bohemian Koko Komegné as Grand Frère 129 The Système de Grands Frères in Comparison with Apprentice Systems 141 The Système de Grands Frères in Comparison with Academic Art Education 145 The Système de Grands Frères in Comparison with Different Types of Workshop 148 Contextualisation: Cameroon’s Art World in the 1980s 152 Chapter 4. The 1990s: The Empowerment of a New Generation of Artists through Non-formal Training 157 The Effects of the “Smouldering Years” 158 The Shortcomings of Families, General Schooling and Art Education in Fostering Artistic Talent 163 Formative Encounters with Art Professionals from the Diaspora and the Former Imperial Countries 168 Short-term Contact Zones: Ateliers with Foreign Artists 168 The NGO doual’art: Educating Artists with Development Funds 182 Revue Noire No. 13: Récup-Art as Title Story 193 Peter Anders at the Goethe-Institut: Studio Visits and Crossover-Projects 201 Discursive Agency: A Path to Artistic Self-Empowerment 204 Cultivating Discursive Agency through Reading 205 Artistic Self-Empowerment through Collectives 209 The Discursive Agency of the Trickster Pascale Marthine Tayou 211 The Effects of a Decade of Change 214 Chapter 5. Becoming an Artist in a “Connexionist” Age 219 Internet and Studio Programmes: Tools for a New Generation 221 Artists’ Grassroots Initiatives 225 The Collective Cercle Kapsiki and the Artist-Run Space K-Factory (2005-2011) 227 Incubating Visions: The Birth and Educational Impact of ArtBakery (2003-2013) 232 Artistic Knowledge Sharing through Projects 241 “Exit Tour: Le Douala-Dakar de l’art contemporain“ (2006) 242 “DiARTgonale: Ouvrir les Portes de l’Imaginaire” (2007 – 2009) 246 Becoming a Contemporary Artist 252 Contemporary Art’s Origins in Africa 258 Contemporary Art in Cameroon: A Discourse Analysis 261 Being Connected, Flexible and Precarious in the Global Field of Art 284 Chapter 6. Learning from Cameroon’s History of Non-formal Training 291 Consequences of State Neglect for Art/s Education 291 Tactic Communality instead of Auto-Didactism 294 The Dilemmas of Critical and Socially-Engaged Art 295 Non-formal Training of Visual Artists from the 1970s to the 2000s: An Assessment 299 Guiding the State’s New Interest in Visual Art 304 Notes 309 Bibliography 379 Table of Figures 397 Index 401 Visual Arts in Cameroon: The Genealogy as Scheme 406 Foreword The idea for this thesis emerged in 2010 during my first visit to Douala, Cameroon. At that time, I was travelling as a curator with the founders of the Dutch arts initiative Enough Room for Space. Friends of friends and their projects had informed us about Douala’s dynamic art scene and my brief was to develop a curatorial project involving both artists from Douala and colleagues from different European countries. (The outcome of this project is gathered in the magazine issues DiARTgonale Special Edition 1 (2012) and 2 (2013).) Considering our own organisational structure as an artist association, we found ourselves drawn to Douala’s artist initiatives and their spaces. Our engagement with the arts community—which ranged from giving guest lectures, visiting studio visits, and attending numerous functions at privately run art spaces—sparked countless compelling conversations. Yet these encounters left us with some urgent questions. Namely, how do artists achieve this level of skilling and self-reflection in a context without art school or art-interested bourgeoisie? How does a lack of public funding and working under precarious conditions affect the artwork and discourse produced in Cameroon? The following text pursues these questions, notably in English so as to further open this predominantly Francophone art context to readers and academics beyond the Francophonie. 13 Chapter 1 Introduction Visual art can inspire open-ended aesthetic processes for both the artist and the viewer.