17 Jan 2023
Christian Lattier : surtout ne pas refaire du « nègre »
Paris, France
The École des modernités
At the Institut Giacometti
Our first lecture of the year will focus on the artist Christian Lattier. Born in the Ivory Coast, he lived and worked in France from 1947 to 1962, where he quickly became successful. A former student at the École des Beaux-Arts in Saint-Etienne and then in Paris, he received numerous awards, both in France and in his home country.
His creations in iron and string, full of derision, reinvented classical African sculpture. They opened the door to a modern and singular art, synonymous with an emancipation that was also at the heart of African independence.
Yacouba Konaté
Yacouba Konaté is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan. A former student of the University of Paris 1, Panthéon-Sorbonne where he defended two theses, he is a member of the Scientific Council of the Academy of Sciences, Culture and Arts of Africa and the Diasporas (ASCAD), director of the Rotonde des Arts Contemporains in Abidjan and honorary president of the International Association of Arts Critics (Aica) which he directed between 2008 and 2011, in Paris.
He has been a guest professor at numerous universities: Stanford (California), Laval University in Quebec, Sciences Po (CERI), École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris. First General Curator of the Dakar Biennale in 2006, he was General Director of the Marché des Arts du Spectacle d'Abidjan (MASA) from 2013 to 2021.
He is the author of several books and articles on African culture and politics, including Alpha Blondy: Reggae and Society in Black Africa (Karthala/ CEDA, 1987), Christian Lattier: Le sculpteur aux mains nues (Éditions Sépia, 1993), La biennale de Dakar. Pour une esthétique de la création contemporaine africaine (La bibliothèque d'Africultures, Paris, 2009) and recently Voilà pourquoi... Contes de Bamôrô Traoré de Kong (Eburnie, 2019).
Tuesday 17 January, at 6.30pm live on Zoom.
Conference in French, by Yacouba Konaté.
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