Curator: Annabelle Ténèze, Director of the Louvre-Lens
Scenography: Mathis Boucher, Architect-Scenographer, Louvre-Lens
Like a gaze cast upon the Galerie du Temps, contemporary artists invite us to imagine the next chapter of history together. Their works offer new openings and perspectives.
Roméo Mivekannin weaves connections between history and our contemporary world. His painting and sculpture explore the layers of our shared memories, particularly between Africa and Europe.
For several years, he has revisited pivotal moments in painting, primarily selecting works from the collections of the Louvre museum, such as The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault, with his version opening the exhibition. By recreating these celebrated paintings in his style, the artist presents narratives that could have been written but, more importantly, remain to be written.
Roméo Mivekannin inserts his self-portrait into his reinterpretations of masterpieces, embodying the forgotten Black figure. Through this gesture of homage and disruption, the artist challenges us with his gaze, prompting questions: Who paints? Who is painted? Who is present in the works, and who is absent?
The Beninese artist addresses the genre of history painting, with its shipwrecks and scenes of chaos. He also questions the history of portraiture—especially of women—and royal representations in Europe and Africa. He highlights modes of presence and absence in the history of art, particularly in representations of Black figures.
At the end of the exhibition, geometric paintings, abstract backs of figurative canvases, and ceramic sculptures provide new motifs for contemplation and reflection on the history of collections, resonating across time up to the present day.
