Romuald Hazoumè
Romuald Hazoumè’s body of work primarily encompasses sculpture, but also painting, video and photography.
His sculptural creations are distinguished by their economy of means. Hazoumè works with used objects and preserves their original patina. A few gestures, a combination or a reversal are enough to reveal underlying faces and to revive the mask tradition which he identifies with, himself a member of the Yoruba culture. In this way, a kettle or jerry can spout resembles a mouth, and a vacuum or watering pot handle becomes a nose. Once on the wall, Hazoumè’s works disrupt codes of ancestral knowledge with accuracy and irony: playing with stereotypes about Africa, he skilfully turns attention to the Western refuse that floods the continent’s streets.
