[In Conversation With] The Story of the Third Aesthetic

My background - Why/how have I been sent to Japan
As a Cameroon-born child who moving to France early in his life, I always had an interest in the Japanese culture. As a student in design, Japan rapidly became a must see and must experience country and culture for me. Later on, an opportunity was presented to me to work for a Japanese automaker in Tokyo as a car designer.

Meeting the other / stunning first impression
AT first glance, I recognised the hierarchical body language. The elder are highly respected, always. Everything is sacred - stone, trees, rivers, mountains… trains! Everything is ritualised. Exchanging a business card is a codified ritual. There are goods and divinities everywhere. All just like in my sophisticated West- and Central Africa animist region.

The Idea of transforming my impression to concrete creations occurred to me
I rapidly decided to address visual icons of both culture - kimono in Japan & West Africa fabrics - Japanese traditional lacquer & West African wooden figurines. Then creating installations with the intention of blurring the sense of origin. A « third aesthetic » emerged from this new « harmonious » vocabulary.

A variety of reactions across the world (the West, Africa, Japan, African American etc.)
2008: Japan Times and Paper Magazine NY. fascination by the « Fusion »
2009: Wafrica kimono for sale in Tokyo Omotesando dori
2010: MAD NY made Wafrica Kimono the central idea of « The global Africa Project » exhibition MAD put a price on the Blood Brothers sculpture of 420K$ for its uniqueness in art history
2011: TED Global salute the « African artist that works and lives in Japan »
2013: Cultural museum Basel purchases 2 Wafrica kimono for an Asia exhibition. From one region of the world to another, reception of this creative artwork intrigues, captivates, but overly draws attention to an obvious but unknown aesthetics mariage between West Africa and Japan.

Specificity of live performances. Wafrica Noh
This third Aesthetic live experience combine elements of Japanese and West African traditional arts to evoke an air of awe and mystery, with touches of ritual and humour. Based on an Igbo folktale, I will show a 2 mins excerpt from the 20 mins original piece on the Makombé River in Cameroon voices an animal view of human harm wrought to natural habitats.

Questions for open discussion
What functions for art in a well matured globalised world?; Where does cultural identity start?; What creative phenomenon could rise in the future?; Is there room for local global identity?