Also Known As Africa is the first art fair in Paris devoted to contemporary art and design from Africa. When tasked with the design of the fair’s VIP lounge an opportunity was presented to convey my deep love for Africa and try to dispel the clichés that sometimes cling to the continent.
Twenty-four precious masks, standing at three meters in height, these totem-like mixed media and mixed dimensional panels speak to something ancestral, ancient and tribal. Each mask has therefore been deconstructed into three openwork layers allowing light, a major feature of Africa’s character, to pass through them, illuminating the invisible and revealing the superlative.
Having been involved in a number of building projects across the continent in the past few years, the masks played their part in Africa’s renaissance, as it opens up to new levels of dynamism.