Biography
Born in 1967 in Cameroon. Lives and works between Paris and Bandjoun, Cameroon.
Barthélémy Toguo was born in Mbalmayo in Cameroon in 1967. Between 1989 and 1993 he studied art, first at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Abidjan then in Grenoble, and finally at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf where notable encounters included Tony Cragg, Jannis Kounellis and Konrad Klapheck. Although he stayed in Europe and became a French citizen, Barthélémy Toguo remained profoundly attached to Cameroon, and he regularly returns to the country. That is where he created Bandjoun Station, a foundation inaugurated in 2013 with the aim of hosting artists and academics from around the world in residential workshops, to develop propositions in harmony with the local population. This is how he talks about it: “My idea with Bandjoun Station was to combine classic African art and global contemporary art, to exhibit these works in the same space, without ghettoization or a hierarchy of values. […]That way Bandjoun Station will become a crossroads, a point of contact between classic and contemporary art.” This “laboratory without borders” exhibits a permanent collection of contemporary works gathered by the artist thanks to exchanges with his peers and collectors. He also develops agricultural projects there, in a spirit of healthy and sustainable development. Since the end of the 1990s, his works have been noticed by many critics and curators who have invited him to participate in major events: Hans Ulrich Obrist in 1999 for Migrateurs (ARC, Paris), Jean-Hubert Martin in 2000 for Partage d'éxotismes (Biennale de Lyon), Pierre Restany in 2001 for Political Ecology (White Box, New York), and Okwui Enwezor in 2015 for the Venice Biennal, All the World's Future. In 2016, Barthélémy Toguo was one of four artists nominated for the Prix Marcel Duchamp and for this occasion he presented the installation Vaincre le virus! at the Centre Pompidou. The works of Barthélémy Toguo are exhibited in many collections including those of the Musée National d'Art Moderne (Paris), the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Paris), the Museum of Modern Art (New-York), the Museum of Contemporary Art (Miami), the Perez Art Museum (Miami), the Fondation Louis Vuitton pour la creation (Paris), the Collection Agnès b (Paris), and Bandjoun Station (Bandjoun). A recent commission was placed with the artist for four over-doors at the Rodin Museum (Paris).
Education
École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts d'Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
École Supérieure d'Art de Grenoble, France
Kunstakademie of Düsseldorf, Germany
Knight in the Order of Arts and Literature, France. Chevalier des Arts et Lettres, France.
Solo Exhibitions (Selection)
2022/23
Nosbaum Reding, solo show, Brussels, Belgium
Musée Picasso, Barcelona, Spain
2022
Faith can move mountains, Villa Merkel, Esslingen am Neckar, Germany
Le corps mis en scène, Galerie ER, Saint-Savin, France
Biennale de Sydney, 23e édition, Australie
Biennale de Dakar, Sénégal
2021
Désir d'Humanité, Les univers de Barthélémy Toguo, Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Paris, France
Partages, Galerie Lelong & Co., Paris, France
Kingdom of Faith, Centre d'art La Malmaison, Cannes, France
2020
If not now, when?, Galerie Lelong & Co., Paris, France
Bilongue, Stevenson, Cape Town, Afrique du sud.
2019
Urban Requiem, Galerie Lelong & Co., New York, États-Unis
A Road to Exile, Museo Mille Miglia, Brescia, Italie
Of Blood and Water, Le Parvis, Centre d'art contemporain, Ibos, France
Wouri, Donga, Sanaga…, Galerie Lelong & Co., Paris, France
Terra Incognita, Archives nationales, Paris, France
Human Nature, HdM Gallery, Londres, Royaume-Uni
2018
Heimatlos, Nosbaum Reding, Luxembourg
The Beauty of Our Voice, Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, USA
Homo Planta: L'homme végétal, Fondation Blachère, Apt, France
2017
Galerie Lelong, Paris, France
2016
Frontières, Musée de l'histoire de l'immigration, Paris, France
Helldorado, sur les chemins de l'exil, L'orangerie, centre culturel de Bastogne, Belgique
Every body, LAAC, Dunkerque, France
Déluge, Carré Sainte-Anne, Montpellier, France
2015
Les diables et les dieux, Château de Tanlay, France
Maison des Arts de Châtillon, Châtillon, France
New works, Château Lynch-Bages, Pauillac, France
2014
An Afropolitan View, Uppsala Konstmuseum, Uppsala, Sweden
Celebrations, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cap Town, South Africa
The House of Secrets, La Chaufferie, Haute école des arts du Rhin, Strasbourg, France
Drawing Now, Galerie Lelong, Paris, France
Hidden Face, Nosbaum&Reding, Luxembourg
Musée d'Art et d'Histoire de Narbonne, France
2013
Coexistence on earth, Wooson Gallery, Daegu, South Korea
Print Shock, Musée du dessin et de l?estampe originale, Gravelines, France (cat.)
Talking to the Moon, Musée d'art moderne de Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France (cat.)
Hidden Faces, Galerie Lelong, Paris, France
Derive(s), Specific Creation: "Marseille Provence 2013", Chapelle Sainte Anne, Arles, France
Signs in The Leaves, Médiathèque Benjamin Rabier, La Roche sur Yon, France
In The Head, Collège Boris Vian, Dunkerque-Branche, France
2012
Stand up and Walk, Espace culturel Le volume, Vern-sur-Seiche, France
A World Child Looking At The Landscape, Nosbaum & Reding, Luxembourg
The African spirit, Galerie Lelong, Zurich, Switzerland
2011
Specific creation The Well Water, New Performance Shower Life, La Verrière, Hermès, Brussels, Belgium
New Ceramics, Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres, Paris
New Poster for « Roland Garros », Paris
Specific creation Criminal Tribunal By Mario Mauroner contemporary Art, Vienna, Austria
PUMA African Football Kits project, Design Museum, London
International Print Biennale 2011, Print Awards, Who is the true terrorist, Hatton Gallery, Claremont RoadNewcastle, UK
2010
The Lost Dogs' Orchestra, Galerie Lelong, Paris, France (cat.)
Cissé / Toguo, Dak'Art Biennale de l'Art Africain, Dakar, Institut Français de Dakar, Senegal
The World Examination, Centre d'Art Contemporain de Châtellerault, France
Liberty Leading the People, Fundaçao Gulbenkian, Lisbon, Portugal
Lyrics Night, Bandjoun Museum, Bandjoun, Cameroon
Institut Français du Congo - Pointe-Noire, Congo
The World Examination, Item éditions, Paris, France
2009
The Pregnant Mountain, Robert Miller Gallery, New York, USA
road for exile Carpe Diem Arte e Pesquisa, Palace of Marquis de Pombal, Lisbon, Portugal
... et la parole fut, Frac île de la Réunion, Saint-Denis, France
The world examination, Item éditions, Paris
The aids issue cannot be solved thanks to the distribution of condoms. Benedict XVI, Mario Mauroner Contemporary, Art Vienna, Austria
2008
Heart Beat, Baltic, Centre for Contemporary Art, New-Castle, UK
Spiritual Genocide, Art Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
The Devilish Human Temptations, Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art, Vienna, Austria
2006
La Magie du Souffle, Frac Provence-Alpes-Côte d?Azur, Marseille, France
The Wildcats'Dinner, Ateliers d'Artistes de la Ville de Marseille, France
The Wildcats' Dinner, Mario Marauner Contemporary Art Salzburg, Austria
2005
The Human Mirror, Ecole supérieure d'Art de Lorient, France
Group Exhibitions (Selection)
Upcoming
Les Choses : Une histoire de nature morte, Le Louvre, Paris, France
2022
Cartograhpie des possibles, Nosbaum Reding | Luxembourg, Luxembourg
2021
This is Not Africa – Unlearn What You Have Learned, ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum,
Aarhus, Danemark
Blooming, Domaine Pommery, Reims, France
2020
Global(e) Resistance, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Voyage Voyages, MuCEM – Musée des civilisations de l'Europe et de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France
Couleurs du monde, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
2019
Perilous Bodies, Ford Foundation, New York, États-Unis
Intriguing Uncertainties, The Parkview Museum, Singapour, Singapour
Prête-moi ton rêve, Maison de l'Union, Casablanca, Maroc
Une bouteille à la mer, Aquarium de Paris, Paris, France
Prête-moi ton rêve, Musée des Civilisations Noires, Dakar, Sénégal
Time for Change : Art and Social Unrest in the Jorge M. Pérez Collection, El Espacio 23 – Jorge M. Pérez
Collection, Miami, États-Unis
Disturbing Narratives, The Parkview Museum, Singapour, Singapour
Kochi Muziris Biennale, Cochin, Inde
2018
Fragile State, PinchukArtCentre, Kiev, Ukraine
Newwwar. It's Just a Game? Bandjoun Station, Bandjoun, Cameroun
Afriques, Artistes d'hier et d'aujourd'hui, Fondation Clément, Le François, Martinique
Persona Grata, Musée d´art contemporain du Val-de-Marne MAC/Val, Vitry-sur-Seine, et Musée de l'histoire de l'immigration, Paris, France
Paradise Is Now, Palm Trees in Art, Salon Dahlmann, Berlin, Allemagne
Barthelemy Toguo & Duncan Wylie, Hangar-Art Center Gallery, Bruxelles, Belgique
2016-2017
Central China International Ceramics Biennale, Zhengzhou, China
Prix Marcel Duchamp 2016, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
2016
What about Africa?, Witteveen Visual Art Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Wer nicht denken will, fliegt raus. Handlungsanweisungen nach Beuys, Museum Kurhaus Kleve, Germany
2015
All the world's futures, Specific creation Urban Requiem, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy, Curator: Okwui Enwezor
AQUI AFRICA, African Contemporary art, SESC Belenzhino, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Curator: Adelina von Furstenberg
Les diables et les dieux, Château de Tanlay, France
2014
Chassés-Croisés-ours et détours autour du détroit, FRAC Nord Pas de Calais, Dunkerque, Curators: Margaux Brugvin, Delphine David et Gauthier Melin
Here Africa, Château de Penthes, Genève-Pregny, France
FOOD, Reflections on Mother Earth, Agriculture and Nutrition, SESC Pinheiros, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Art Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
Biennale internationale de Casablanca, Maroc, Casablanca
Biennale de DAK'ART 2014, Dak'ART au Campus, Art Vert, Dakar, Senegal
Art Cologne, Cologne, Germany
Vivre(s), Domaine Départemental de Chamarande, Chamarande, France
Specific creation, Biennale nationale de la sculpture contemporaine, Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada
Specific creation, Le château d'eau, Strasbourg, France
Against the Grain, Wood in Contemporary Art, Craft and Design, Fort Lauderdale, USA
Biennale de l'Aquarelle de Narbonne, Chapelle des Pénitents bleus, Narbonne, France
2013
Body Language, Studio Museum Harlem, NY, USA
How far away is the horizon?, Part of Images of The World Festival "Occupy Utopia", Aalborg-Kobenhavn-Aarhus, Denmark
FIAC 2013, Grand Palais, Paris
Egarements, Domaine départemental du château d'Avignon, Camargue, France
Le Pont, Musée d'art contemporain de Marseille, France
Transit(s), XBorder Art Biennial 2013, Luleå Rovaniemi Severomorsk, Sweden
Aqua Vitalis, Festival Normandie Impressionniste, Caen, France
Trienal Alentejo, Evora, Portugal
Juegos de Lenguaje, Fundacion Helga de Alvear, Caceres, Spain
How far away is the horizon?, Aalborg-Kobenhavn-Aarhus, Denmark
Speaking artists, Busan Museum Of Art, South Korea
Football, Art and Design - PUMA Kits, Stadtmuseum, Herzogenaurach, Germany
Le Musée éclaté de la presqu'île de Caen, ESAM, Caen, France
Les Voyages Parallèles, Centre culturel Salvador Allende, Neuilly-sur-Marne, France
Passionnément, Palais Fesch-Musée des Beaux Arts, Ajacio, France
2012
Intense Proximité, Triennale de Paris, Paris
Eleventh Havana Biennial, Art Practices And Social Imaginaries, Havana, Cuba
8ème Festival International du Film sur L'argile et le verre de Montpellier, France
J'ai deux amours, Cité nationale de l'histoire de l'immigration, Paris
Judith facing Olopherne, New Ceramics, Pavillon des Arts et du Design, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris
Fliegen/Flying, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
Nodes Of Mobility: transnational transfer zones and terminals, Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna, Austria
We Face Foward, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, UK
Friktionerfriction International Performance Art Festival, Uppsala Art Museum, Uppsala, Sweden
Museum of Arts and Design, New York
When Attitudes Became Form, Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
Art Brussels, Belgium
Art Cologne, Cologne, Germany
2011
Environment and Object in Recent African Art, Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, Saratoga Museum, NY, USA
Mises à l'eau, Maison de la Culture de la Province de Namur, Belgique
ARS 11, Museum of Contemporary Art KIASMA, Helsinki, Finland
Fabula Graphica 3, Grandes Galeries de l'Aître Saint Maclou, Ecole des Beaux-arts de Rouen, France
Border, Bamako Encounters, The Gulbenkian Foundation Lisboa, Portugal
State of the Union, Freies Museum, Berlin, Germany
Longing for Sea-Change, Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, CA, USA
Habiter la Terre, Biennale internationale d'art contemporain de Melle, France
Luleä Art Biennial 2011, The Art Gallery of the House of Culture, The Regional Museum of Norrbotten, The Museum Park, Sweden
Là où se fait notre histoire, Frac Corse, Corte, France
Une terrible beauté est née, 11ème Biennale de Lyon, Specific creation The Time, Lyon, France
8th Mercosul Biennial 2011, Porto Alegre, Brazil
Mind The Gap And Bridge It! An international seminar on integration, Arkitekturmässan, Gothenburg, Sweden
Mutations, Barthélémy Toguo / Martin Sulzer, Centro d'arte Contemporanea Ticino, Bellinzona, Switzerland
Biennale internationale d?art contemporain, Melle, France
ARS 11, Museum of Contemporary Art KIASMA, Helsinki, Finland
Promenade, 9, Fondation Kogart, Budapest, Hungary
2010
The Production of Space, Studio Museum Harlem, New York, USA
Le jugement dernier, Centre culturel Français de Pointe Noire, Congo
Forum d'Avignon 2010, Palais des Papes, Avignon, France
Africa: See You, See Me!, Museu Da Cidade-Pailhao Preto, Lisbon, Portugal
Longing for Sea-Change, Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, CA, USA
Rencontres de Bamako, FotoMuseum Antwerp, Belgium; Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa; Cape Town National Gallery, South Africa and Centre Culturel Franco-Mozambicain, Maputo, Mozambique
Fragile, Fields of Empathy, Musée d'Art Moderne Saint-Etienne Métropole, France
Philagrafika 2010, The Graphic Unconscious, Philadelphia, USA
Islands Never Found, Palazzo Ducale, Genoa, Italy; State Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Greece; Musée d'Art Moderne Saint-Etienne Métropole, France
Les Hivernales d?Avignon, Théâtre des Hivernales, Avignon, France
World in Hand / Welt in der Hand, Kunsthaus Dresden, Germany
Dialogue among Civilizations, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa
Océan, Palais Bellevue, Biarritz, France
Venice Architecture Biennial, Italy
The Smell of God, MCAD and Obsidian Arts, Minneapolis, USA
Work in Progress, Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, France
Space: Currencies in Contemporary African Art, Museum Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa
Longing for Sea-Change, Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, USA
Environment and Object in Recent African Art, Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, New York, USA
The Beauty of Distance, 17th Biennial of Sydney, Australia
2009
Biennale Africaine de la photographie 2009, Musée de Bamako, Bamako, Mali
Une Collection, Espace Vallès, Saint Martin d'Herres, France
Elusive dreams, Les Hauts du Ru, La Cathédrale, Montreuil, France
Art Albertina, Albertina Museum, Vienna, Austria
The Crisis of the Genre, International Sculpture Triennal in Poznan, Culture centrum Zamek, Poznan, Poland
Persona, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium
Fragile, terres de l'empathie, Musée d'art Moderne de Saint-Etienne Métropole, France
Homeless in the city, Cornelius strasse, Düsseldorf, Germany
2008
Laughing in a Foreign Language, Hayward Gallery, London, UK
Un voyage sentimental, 1st Poznan Biennial, Poland
Farewell to Post-Colonialism, The 3rd Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art,
Guangzhou, China
Une Histoire Partagée... , Cité internationale des arts, Paris, France
Traversia, Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, Canary Islands, Spain
Black Paris, Musée d'Ixelles, Brussels, Belgique
Der Mensch in der Zeichnung, Im Traklhaus, Salzburg, Vienna, Austria
Collection in Context: Four Decades, Studio Museum, Harlem, USA
Des territoires à partager, Ve Biennale d'Art et de Culture de Sao Tomé et Principe
Mondo e Terra, Musée d'Art de la Province de Nuoro, Sardaigne, Italie
Cité idéale, Abbaye de Fontevraud, France
Micro-Narratives, Musée d'art Moderne de Saint-Etienne Métropole, France
2007
De Schwitters à Toguo, un choix, Cabinet d?art graphique, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Die Schöne und das Ungeheuer - Geschichten ungewöhnlicher Liebespaare, Residenzgalerie, Salzburg, Austria
Black Paris, Iwalewa-Haus, Bayreuth ; Museum der Weltkulturen, Frankfurt, Germany
De leur temps (2) , Musée de Grenoble, France
Et voila le travail, Galerie d'art du conseil Général des Bouches du Rhône, Aix-en- Provence, France
Shenzhen Biennale, He Xiangning Museum, Shenzhen, China
Micro-Narratives, Museum 25th May-Museum of Yougoslav History, Serbia
Foodscapes, Art and Gastronomy, Ex-Cinema Trento, Parma, Italy
African Way, Orangerie de Madame Elisabeth, Versailles, France
Society must be defended, 1st Tessaloniki Bienniale, State Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Greece
2006
Paris Black, Iwalewa Haus, Bayreuth, Germany
The Unhomely, 2nd International Biennial Of Contemporary Art of Seville, Spain
Africa Remix, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden (cat.)
Nuit Blanche, La goutte d?eau, de l?or qui coule, Paris, France
Carton Rouge, Atelier Tampon-Ramier, Paris, France
Des Hommes sans Histoire?, Musée des Arts derniers, Paris, France
Distant Relatives/Relative Distance, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa (cat.)
Africa Remix, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan (cat.)
La Force de l'Art : Un nouveau rendez vous avec la création en France, Grand Palais, Paris, France
Festival photo et vidéo de Biarritz : Passages en ville, Bellevue, Biarritz, France
Profils: 15 ans de création artistique en France, Institut français d'Istanbul, Turkey (cat.)
Accion tricontinental, Nouvelle Biennale de la Havanne 2006 / Galeria 23 y 12, La Havane, Cuba
Le Monde coloré, Museum of African Art, Belgrade, Serbia
Wien Mozart 2006: Hidden Histories - Remapping Mozart / Configuration 2, Vienna, Austria
Notre Histoire, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France (cat.)
2005
La Collection permanente: L'art en France depuis 1950 à la création la plus contemporaine, MAC/VAL Musée d'Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne, Vitry-sur-Seine, France (cat.)
Schweizer Krankheit + die Sehnsucht nach der Ferne, Kunsthaus Dresden, Dresden, Germany
À Fleur de peau: Le dessin à l'épreuve, Galerie Éric Dupont, Paris, France
Short Cuts Between Reality and Fiction, Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, USA
Faire signe, La Criée centre d'art contemporain, Rennes, France (cat.)
Playgrounds and Toys, Hangar Bicocca, Milano, Italy
Foire internationale des arts derniers : Les Afriques 2, Musée des Arts Derniers, Paris, France
Donna Donne, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy (cat.)
Femme Femmes, Musée de Carouge, Genève, Switzerland
African Art Now, Oeuvres de la collection J. Pigozzi, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA (cat.)
Exotic Ambivalence, Skulpturens Hus, Stockholm, Sweden
The Giving Person, Palazzo Delle Arti, Napoli, Italy (cat.).
Art of Africa, Oeuvres de la collection J. Pigozzi, Grimaldi Forum, Monaco
Gott Sehen, Kunstmuseum des Kantons Thurgau, Kartause Ittingen, Switzerland (cat.)
Singuliers, Guangdon Museum of Art, China (cat.)
De lo real y lo fictiocio: art comtemporaneo de Francia, Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, Mexico
Africa Urbis: Perspectives Urbaines, Musée des Arts Derniers, Paris, France
Africa Remix, Centre George Pompidou, Paris, France
Le Mélange des genres: créatures hybrides et mystérieuses, Frac Haute-Normandie,
Sotteville-lès-Rouen, France (cat.)
Domicile privé/public, Musée d'art Moderne de Saint-Étienne Métropole, France (cat.)
Barthélémy Toguo, Cyril André, Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Grenoble, France
Africa Remix, Hayward Gallery, Londres, UK (cat.)