SUR UN HORIZON INFINI SE JOUE LE THÉÂTRE DE NOS AFFECTIONS
FONDATION ZINSOU & MUSÉE OUIDAH . COTONOU . BÉNIN
2018

Curator : Marie-Cécile Zinsou

The Fondation Zinsou hands over all its areas at the headquarters of the foundation in the Ouidah museum in Cotonou to the artist Joël Andrianomearisoa for a carte blanche in 3 acts and 3 areas, entitled: Sur un horizon infini se joue le théâtre de nos affections. This is the artist’s first large personal exhibition on the continent and in Benin. He occupies the spaces with a fresh rhythm, deploying installations, words, objects, images, sounds and moods assisted by the foundation’s entire team, friends and local knowhow.
Sur un horizon infini se joue le théâtre de nos affections is a sensory exploration that interacts with each individual.
It examines feelings, desire, the world, our time, a meeting for a day or forever, a departure, travel, a before and an after.
A constantly developing workshop of aspects and encounters in motion.
A world specific to the artist, touched by a duality where gentleness and a caress sometimes come up against coldness and fragility.
In cultivating that ambiguity, Joël Andrianomearisoa reveals to us the collective construction of an obsessive emotional architecture, sometimes dark, but above all sensual.

© Yanick Folly

ACT I

For the duration of a meeting or forever
headquarters of the Fondation Zinsou in Cotonou
The scene unfolds in a hotel somewhere in the world.
It is one of those grand hotels from another age, but excessively up-to-date.
From the reception to the gardens, from the wings to the stairs via the rooms and ballroom, glances dart and bodies meet.
Heartbeats – A fragile instant.
In time with these tremors, mirrors negotiate with our loving images.
A wild bouquet embraces the song of the distant land.
In a sentimental waiting room, sheets strive for perfection.
The drama of our society plays out In the Ballroom.
And a feast in the stylish restaurant already heralds the end.
Off to the station, the harbour, the airport…

ACT II

The Last Kiss
– Jardin d’Essai – Ouidah road-
“There, we curl up,
dream of the world
and above all exchange a last kiss
before sinking into the black light of oblivion.”

ACT III

After
Oblivion
Ouidah Museum
After the encounters come separations. Some will leave, others remain.
A boarding gate, a station platform, a landing stage at night, all buzzing with a thousand farewells.
Whilst upstairs, solitude is present in absence. Black tears are illuminated by the light of forgetting.
The gardens conjure up wonderful memories; handkerchiefs in the wind welcome our tears.
What eyes your eyes are, distant, so distant, so distant in the darkness.

 

Joël Andrianomearisoa