Hervé Youmbi

Cameroon

Hervé Youmbi makes a point to collaborate with a number of artists, especially in the case of the Visages des Masques/Faces of Masks series included in the exhibition. In his own words: I was born in the Central African Republic and grew up in Cameroon, but not in the Western Region that has become the area of my research and engagement for his project. This body of work has entailed for me a personal voyage into the depths of my singular and collective identity—“singular” referencing a discovery of personal identity, and “collective” delving into and paying tribute to my ancestral heritage, which have in turn invited questions around the relationship between local and global. The result has been this project, which activates locally produced hybrid masks that fluidly move from the ritual universe of Cameroon’s Western Region into the contemporary world and more particularly the global contemporary art scene in Europe and USA. Each individual character who collaborated in the realization of this project has in his or her own way given depth and breadth to this project, and it is that which I hope to unravel in both a text for the catalog and potentially a short film. Among the key individuals are Hervé Yamguen, a longstanding friend and contemporary artist in his own right, who ritually activated my first conflated mask in the ritual universe; members of Ku’ngang Society; the taku’ (chief of the society); the king who had the final say and gave the authorization which allowed the use of my mask in the initiation ceremony of the Ku’ngang Society; the carver; the beader; and the coiffure specialist. Youmbi’s sensitivity to recognition, process, and authorship mirrors the goals for this entire exhibition and publication project, making his contribution a fitting conclusion to the exhibition. By paying special attention to the multiplicitous processes, hands, patrons, intentions, and techniques of 13 display and consumption, Youmbi honors local and global desires and expectations, while recognizing that both are constructed spaces of ritual. He further offers an ethical model for museum practice and academic scholarship, while at the same time critiquing both.