Often disregarded in the world of fine arts, traditional crafts are at the heart of this year’s Also Known as Africa (AKAA) art fair in Paris. For its tenth edition, the celebration of contemporary African creation is blurring distinctions between artisans and artists to bring workmanship to the fore.
In his role as AKAA’s new artistic director, Sitor Senghor believes it is important to “get back to basics” and restore the value of artisanal skills.
“I want to bring the creative process back to the centre, so that collectors and the public can see the artist working with their hands,” he told journalists gathered ahead of the opening on Friday.
These crafts have often been marginalised, he says, seen as “secondary” or “minor” when compared to fine arts like painting and drawing.
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This is something Senghor has set out to change – as well as seeking to “honour the women” typically associated with handicrafts, passing know-how and traditions on for generations.
That’s why the exhibition spotlights material works: ceramics, sculpture, pottery, weaving, fabric and more.
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Cultural crossover
Dressed in a long, white, Japanese kimono, Senghor also noted the surprising parallels that can be found between African arts and crafts and other cultures across the globe.
“We think that Africa and Asia are very separate, but actually it’s not the case. When you look at Chinese archives, you can see a relationship between Asia and Africa that dates back to the 16th century,” he says.
“Some names in Africa sound like Asian names. There is also the tradition of statues and masks.”
A case in point is the specially commissioned installation that welcomes visitors as they enter the AKAA hall in Paris’s Marais district.
The Third Aesthetic, a four-part sculpture designed by Cameroonian artist Serge Mouangue, captures a visual universe suspended between Asia and Africa.
“When I arrived in Japan in 2006, I realised that there were many similarities between where I came from and where I lived in Japan,” says Mouangue, who moved to Tokyo for work. He spent 17 years designing cars before moving over to textiles and artistic design.
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He points to the blue and white cylinders suspended in the air, made of bamboo and decorated with red and white feathers. He worked with Japanese artisans in Tokushima to colour the cloth according to an ancient indigo dyeing technique, a method also used in West Africa.
Nearby are “mamorigami” guardians – a series of kendo masks that stand imposingly attached to sacred “shimenawa” ropes used in Japanese religious ceremonies. The masks, used by real fighters from Japan, are “covered with beads from my mother’s village in the Bamileke country” in Cameroon, Mouangue explains.
In the Seven Sisters, figures clad in robes and masks process across the hall. Although they could be mistaken for Noh theatre masks, Mouangue explains that they are actually Punu tribal masks from Gabon.
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Clothes reimagined
Moroccan designer Sophia Kacimi is exhibiting at AKAA for the first time with her project Zoubida – a collection of dresses and jackets made from woven jacquard fabric.
Combining her experience in fashion with her cultural heritage, she met with local artisans in Fez and Rabat to reinvent this colourful cloth, traditionally associated with Moroccan upholstery.
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“I want to bring craftsmanship into an arena where we are not used to seeing it,” Kacimi told RFI, adding that she sees playfulness as part of her DNA.
Nearby is Emmanuel Aggrey Tieku from Ghana, who is also interested in clothes – but from an entirely different perspective. He has embarked on a “45-year long project” of recycling old clothing in different countries to make beautiful installations.
Winner of the Ellipse prize for young artists, Tieku says his art is chance to open a dialogue about the monumental waste that stems from the clothing industry, much of which ends up in his homeland.
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AKAA is hosting 47 galleries this year, representing 95 artists from 24 African countries, as well as members of the diaspora in the United States, Puerto Rico and Europe.
Also Known as Africa is at the Carreau du Temple in Paris until 26 October, 2025.
