Théodore Koudougnon (born 1951, Côte d'Ivoire)
Empreinte Africaine 8
Mixed media on canvas
109 × 90 cm
Vohou Vohou
"Unlike all the great trends in art history, Vohou Vohou is not a school and even less a style, but rather a spirit. Not a spirit of revolt like Dadaism, but a cry of alarm akin to negritude. A lament coming out of a black hole, out of the dust, to shine like a piece of metal in the sun. Europe has taught us a language but not the song. We can use this language which is now known to us, to sing tunes from home.
This is why Vohou uses the techniques known to modern or even classical painting to develop a message of the times, with humor, joy or mystery... No matter what the subject is, it is the way that counts: the work.
Each Vohou has their own battlecry and this is the strength of Vohou Vohou which does not aim to copy nor imitate, but to tell with new words.
Whenever the Vohou glues, tears, crushes, sews, welds, models with his fingers, it is the feeling of participating in the times, soon to become history that animates us all; but once again we are talking about a sincere participation, which comes from the heart, which is provoked but not mimicked.
The Vohou Vohou is not a school!
The Vohou Vohou is not a trend!
The Vohou Vohou is not a movement!
No, no and no, the Vohou Vohou is not! It is made! Yes, it is made and make it what you want it to be. But if you do it, do it deeply, sincerely, patiently and passionately, with all your heart and all your body.”
— N'Guessan Kra
Professor, National Institute of Arts, Abidjan
N. Kra, "Le Vohou Vohou", in Y. Kawaguchi, M. Yoshihara, R. Hirase, H. Kanno, Y. Shirakawa, H. Furukawa, An Inside Story: African Art of our Time, Tokyo, 1995, pp. 177-178.
