Born 1962, Porto Novo, Benin
Lives and works in Porto Novo, Benin

Romuald Hazoumè, who is of Yoruba origin, grew up in a Catholic family, but remained in contact with the Vodun society of his forbears; this dual cultural heritage finds expression in both his masks and installations. In the mid-1980s, he began an extended series of works made from discarded plastic containers, and in particular from gasoline canisters. After slight modifications, these objects became masks which subtly reveal Hazoumè’s critical vision of political systems. He has said of his work: “I send back to the West that which belongs to them, that is to say, the refuse of consumer society that invades us every day.”

Hazoumè’s masks conform more to the recovery of their materials than to Yoruba traditions; however, there are also important links with this heritage. He has said about his masks that he sees them “exiting” or “departing.” “Exiting” the masks, explains the Mali scholar Youssouf Tata Cissé, means that they “recapitulate all the stages of creation.” For example, one of the most important masks in Bambara rituals is the “Whirlwind” mask. It stands for the primordial whirlwind that governed the emergence of life. Hazoumé’s Zanzibrrrrace (2003) suggests a parallel reading and illustrates how the artist draws on the vocabulary of the initiated to give character to his creations. What distinguishes Hazoumè’s assemblages is that they are also specifically tied to his vision of society and global problems. Unlike the traditional masks which tended to strip the wearer of his personality, Hazoumè’s expose the wearer’s true nature. Indeed, his masks can be understood as a modern reinterpretation of the phenomena of trances, revealing without reserve the madness of current events. Hazoumè has extended these themes in his most recent works, monumental installations which address the history of slavery and the present practices of the black market.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2016
Romuald Hazoumè, Gagosian Gallery Paris, France

2015
Art et développement durable, vol. 4 : Romuald Hazoumè, Mobilière Suisse, Bern, Switzerland

2015
Arè, Fondation Zinsou, Cotonou, Benin

2015
Romuald Hazoumè : Dance of Butterflies, Manchester Museum, England

2013
Romuald Hazoumè : Beninese Solidarity with Endangered Westerners, Kunsthaus Graz, Graz, Austria

2012
Romuald Hazoumè : Cargoland, October Gallery, London

2011
Romuald Hazoumè, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland

2010
My Paradise - Made in Porto Novo
Gerisch-Stiftung, Neumünster, Germany

2009
Exit Ball, Aliceday, Brussels, Belgium

2009
MADE IN PORTO-NOVO, October Gallery, London, UK

2007
La Bouche du Roi : an artwork by Romuald Hazoumè
The British Museum
London - England

2006
La Bouche du Roi
Musée du quai Branly
Paris - France

2006
Article 14 débrouille-toi, toi-même, World Museum Liverpool, UK

2005
Romuald Hazoumè
Fondation Zinsou
Cotonou - Bénin

2005
Romuald Hazoumè Installation Art
CAISA (City of Helsinki Cultural Office),
Helsinki

2005
La Bouche du Roi (The Mouth of the King)
The Menil Collection,
Houston

2005
October Gallery, London

2002
Romuald Hazoumè
Centre Culturel Français de Turin
Turin, Italy

2000
La Bouche du Roy.
Cotonou, Benin: Centre Culturel Français.

1999
Romuald Hazoumè: Vor-Sicht.
New York: The Project

1998
Breeduit
Apeldoorn, Holland: Van Reekum Museum

1998
Bénin-Bénin, Gisteren-Tussen-Morgen.
Apeldoorn, Holland: Van Reekum Museum

1998
Romuald Hazoumè.
Sydney, Australia: The Art Gallery of New South Wales

1990-1991
Masques Bidons II
National Museum.
Accra, Ghana.
Cultural French Center - Lagos, Nigeria- Bamako, Mali
- Dakar, Sénégal
- Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
K.G. du KunstmuseumBonn, Germany.
Museum der Franziskaner de Werl.
Germany.

1990
Africain Forum
Heidelberg, Germany.

1989
Masques Bidons I Cultural French Center
Cotonou, Benin.
French-Nigerian Cultural Center Niamey, Niger.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2017
Art/Afrique, le nouvel atelier. Les Initiés, un choix d’œuvres (1989 – 2009) dans la collection d’art africain contemporain de Jean Pigozzi. Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, France (04/26/17 to 09/04/17)


2015
Picasso.mania, Grand-Palais, Paris, France

2014/2015
Luminós/C/ity.Ordinary Joy: From the Pigozzi Contemporary African Art Collection, Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

2014-2016
Art from elsewhere, International Contemporary Art from UK Galleries
Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), Glasgow 24 October to 1 February 2015
Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery 14 February to 31 May 2015
Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (mima) 19 June to 27 September 2015
Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston 10 October to 28 November 2015
Towner, Eastbourne 23 January to 3 April 2016
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery and Arnolfini 22 April to 17 July 2016

2014
Ici l’Afrique/Here Africa - L’Afrique contemporaine à travers le regard de ses artistes, Musée des Suisses dans le Monde,Château de Penthes, Pregny-Chambésy, Switzerland

2014
Post-Picasso: Contemporary Reactions, Museu Picasso, Barcelona

2014
BIACI : Biennale Internationale d'Art Contemporain de Carthagène des Indes, Bogotá

2014
MASKS, JGM Galerie, Paris, France

2014
FIAC-OFFICIELLE, Paris, France

2014
1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London, England

2013/2014
Initiates, Congo Basin : The masks of Romuald Hazoumé, Musée Dapper, Paris

2013
The Black Whale, MARCO, Museo de Arte Contemporánea de Vigo, Spain

2013
Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, Beneath a Petroliferous Moon

2013
Romuald Hazoumè : Beninese Solidarity with Endangered Westerners, Kunsthaus Graz, Graz, Austria

2013
WEST TO WEST, Owusu-Ankomah & Friends, Städtische Galerie Bremen, Bremen

2013
Macht. Wahn. Vision, Museum Heilbronn, Heilbronn, Germany

2013
Hommage, Institut Français du Bénin, Cotonou, Benin

2013
1:54, Contemporary African Art fair, London

2013
Art Zuid, International Sculpture Route Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2013
Focus sur la collection, Musée de la Fondation Zinsou, Ouidah, Benin

2013
Material Conceptualism: The Comfort of Things, Anant & Zoo, Berlin

2013
Art Paris Art Fair, Paris, France

2012
African Cosmos: Stellar Arts, National Museum of African Art, Washington DC, USA
October Gallery, London, UK


2012
The National Museum of African Art, Washington DC, African Cosmos: Stellar Arts

2012
The Progress of Love, The Menil Collection, Houston, USA

2012
We Face Forward, Art from West Africa Today, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, UK

2012
Afrovision. L’art moderne d’Afrique, Musée d’art moderne, Bakou, Azerbaïdjan

2012
Africa/Africa, Abbaye Saint-André, Centre d’art contemporain, Meymac, France

2012
Sculpture is Everything: Contemporary Works from the Collection, QAGOMA, Brisbane

2012
Moving Into Space: Football and Art in West Africa, National Football Museum, Manchester

2012
At Eye Level: Masterpieces of Medieval and Modern Art, Ulmer Museum, Ulm, Germany

2011
ARS 11, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland

2011
Reconfiguring an African Icon: Odes to the Mask by Modern and Contemporary Artists from Three Continents, Metropolitan Museum, New York, USA

2011
L’Afrique à Paris,with Kura Shomali, Chéri Samba… Galerie Hussenot & Magnin-A, Paris, France

2011
TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia

2011
Environment and Object - Recent African Art, Tang Museum, Saratoga Springs, NY

2011
Continents, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

2010/2011
The Land Between Us
Whitworth Art Gallery
Manchester, UK

2010/2011
The Global Africa Project
MAD – Museum of Arts and Design,
New York

2010/2011
21st Century: Art in the First Decade, Queensland Art Gallery
Brisbane, Australia

2010
African Stories
Marrakech Art Fair, Marrakech

2009 - 2010
Africa? Una nuova storia
Complesso del Vittoriano, Rome, Italy

2010
Events of the Self: Portraiture and Social Identity, The Walther Collection, Neu-Ulm, Germany

2010
Art Dubai with October Gallery, Dubai

2010
Joburg Art Fair with October Gallery, Johannesburg

2009
Against Exclusion
3rd biennale of Contemporary Art, The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture
Moscou, Russie

2009
Africa Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy

2009
Bénin 2059, Fondation Zinsou, Cotonou, Republic of Benin

2009
Who’s betting on the 47?” NKV Nassauischer Kunstverein, Wiesbaden, Germany

2008
PetrodollART
Galerie Motte et Rouard
Paris- France

2008
U-TURN, Quadriennial for Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, Denmark

2008
Angaza Afrika – African Art Now, October Gallery, London

2008
Art Dubai with October Gallery, Dubai, UAE

2008
Joburg Art Fair with October Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

2007/2008
Why Africa?
Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli
Turin, Italy

2007
UN / FAIR TRADE
Die Kunst der Gerechtigkeit
Neue Galerie Graz am Landesmuseum Joanneum
Graz, Austria

2007
Documente 12
Kassel-Germany

2007
Masques rituels et contemporains
Fondation Jean Paul Blachère
Apt - France

2007
Uncomfortable Truths Exhibition
Victoria and Albert Museum
London - England

2007
From Courage to Freedom
El Anatsui/Hazoumé/Owusu-Ankomah
October Gallery
London - England

2007
The Shadow of Slave trading on Contemporary Art and Design, Victoria and Albert Museum, London,

2006/2007
100% Africa
Guggenheim Museum
Bilbao, Spain

2006
De ida y vuelta. África. Madrid, Spain. La Casa Encendida

2006
«Snap Judgements»: New positions in Contemporary African Photography, International Center of Photography, New York USA. Miami Art Central, Florida, USA

2005/2006
African Art Now: Masterpieces from the Jean Pigozzi Collection.
Washington DC, U.S.A. National Museum of African Art,
Smithsonian Institution, DC

2005
Arts of Africa
Grimaldi Forum
Monaco - France

2005
African Art Now : Masterpieces from the Jean Pigozzi Collection
Museum of Fine Art Houston
Houston - USA

2004 (travelling exhibition)
Africa Remix
Art contemporain d’un continent

* 24 July 2004 – 7 Nov 2004
Museum Kunst Palast
Düsseldorf - Germany
* 10 Feb 2005 – 17 April 2005
Hayward Gallery
London – England
* 15 May 2005 – 20 Aug 2005
Centre Georges Pompidou
Paris – France
* Feb – May 2006
Mori Art Museum
Tokyo

2003
ARMOUR: The fortification of man
Fort Asperen Biennal - Holland

2003
Magic Markers: Objects of Transformation

* Des Moines Art Center
Des Moines, Iowa - USA
* Musée Bellerive
Zurich - Switzerland
* Musée d’ac de
Lausanne – Switzerland

2003
Correspondances Afriques
Iwalewa-Haus
Afrikanzentrum der Universität Bayreuth
Bayreuth - Allemagne

2003
"Alles Abfall?" Recycling im Design
Musée Bellerive
Zurich - Suisse
Musée d’ac de Lausanne
Lausanne - Switzerland

2002
Œil pour œil
Le Rectangle Centre d’Art Contemporain
Lyon - France

2002
African Market
Ivan Dougherty Gallery
University of NSW
Sydney – Australia

2002
40 ans : Fluxus und die Folgen
Wiesbaden – Germany

2001
TRADE
Fotomuseum Winterthur
Winterthur – Switzerland

2001
Lost & Found
New York - USA

2001
XXXVeme Prix International d’Art contemporain de Monte-Carlo
Monaco – France

2001
TRADE
Nederlands Fotos Institut
Roterdam – Holland

2000
Art Basel 2000
Galerie Art & Public
Bâle - Switzerland

2000
This earth is a flower, construction in Process VII
Bydgoszcz – Poland

2000
D’sign
Galerie Dany Keller
Munich – Germany

2000
Dinge in der kunst des XX. Jahrhunderts.
Haus der Kunst
Munich – Germany

2000
Lyon Biennal.
Lyon, France.

2000
Sieben Hügel
Martin-Gropius-Bau
Berlin, Germany.

2000
Kwangju Biennal.
South-Korea.

1999
Liverpool Biennal.
Liverpool, Great-Britain.

1999
Spaceship Earth, Art in General, New York, USA

1999
Paradise 8, Exit Art, New York, USA

1998
7. Triennale der Kleinplastik
Stuttgart, Germany.

1998
The brigge CiPVI
The Bridge
Melbourn, Australia.

1997
Lumière Noire
Tanlay Art Center
Tanlay Castle, France.

1997
Havana Biennal
Havana, Cuba.

1995/1996
An Inside story : African Art of our time
Setagaya Art Museum
Tokyo, Japan.
Tokoshima Modern Art MuseumTokoshima, Japan.
Himeji City Museum of Art
Himeji, Japan.
Koriyama City Museum of Art
Koriyama, Japan.
Marujame Inokuma-Genichiro
Museum of Contemporary Art Japan.
The Museum of Fine Arts
Gufu, Japan.

1995
orientATION - Istanbul Biennal
Istanbul, Turkey.

1995
Africus.
Johannesburg Biennal, South Africa.

1993
Second sight
Northern Center for Contemporary Art.
Sunderland, Great-Britain
Newlyn Orlon Gallery.
Comwall, Great-Britain
The Orchard Gallery.
Dervy, Ireland.

1993
La grande Vérité, les Astres Africains
Nantes Fine Arts Museum, France.

1992
Out of Africa
Saatchi gallery
London, Great-Britain

1990
Night of Art
Helsinki, Finland.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

2017
Les Initiés, un choix d’œuvres (1989 – 2009) dans la collection d’art africain contemporain de Jean Pigozzi. Editions Dilecta, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, France. Exhibition catlaogue

2014
Bois Sacré, Exhibition catalogue, Wallonie-Bruxelles International, pgs 28, 34, 36

2014
Post-Picasso: Contemporary Reactions, Exhibition catalogue, Museu Picasso, Barcelona, pgs 74-75, 78.

2013
L'art du Large, Jean-Hubert Martin, Flammarion 2013, pages 245-248

2012
Afro, une célébration Katell Pouliquen, Préface d'Oxmo Puccino 176 pages - 17 x 23 cm.
Editions de La Martinière. Paris, Septembre 2012 Broché

2011
ROMUALD HAZOUME Publié à l'occasion de l'exposition Romuald Hazoumè à l'Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin Textes Enrique Juncosa, Sean Kissane, Gerard Houghton, André Magnin
160 pages – English Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin - mars 2011

2011
Astrapi n°749 Bimensuel édité par Bayard Presse

2010
ROMUALD HAZOUME My Paradise - Made in Porto Novo Edited by Herbert-Gerisch-Stiftung, Neumünster, Martin Henatsch Texts by Bartholomäus Grill, Martin Henatsch, Daniela Roth 144 pages - 23.10 x 23.10 cm - German/ English Hatje Cantz, 2010

2010
Contemporary African Photography from the Walther Collection Events of the Self:
Portraiture and Social Identity Edited by Okwui Enwezor

2010
The Global Africa Project
Exhibition catalogue. Published by the Museum of Arts and Design , New York and Prestel Publishing

21st Century: Art in the First Decade, ed. Miranda Wallace, exhibition catalogue, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane.

2009
The Global Art World
Edited by Hans Belting & Andrea Buddensieg

2009
Africa? una nuova storia
Exhibition catalogue, published by Gangemi Editore 2008

2009
ANGAZA AFRIKA African Art Now
By Chris Spring, Published by Laurence King Publishing Ltd.

3rd Moscow Biennale for Contemporary Art : Against Exclusion, exhibition catalogue, Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Moscow

2007
UN/FAIR TRADE, Die Kunst der Gerechtigkeit, Herausgegeben von Christian Eigner/Peter Weibel, Neue Galerie Graz, Published by Springer Wien New York (+ CD Rom)

2007
Art for Aids, UNAIDS

2007
Afrika sunnan Sahara i brennidepli, Ritstjorar Jinina Einarsdottir og Pordis Sigurardottir, catalogue d’exposition, Iceland.

2007
Masques Rituels et Contemporains, Fondation Jean Paul Blachère,
Musée Royal de L’Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, catalogue d’exposition.

2007
Documenta Kassel, 16/06 – 23/09 2007, catalogue
Taschen

2006/2007
Africa Remix,
Catalogue d’exposition, Moderna Museet, Stockholm.

2006 Africa Remix,
Catalogue d’exposition, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo.

2006
Romuald Hazoumè, la Bouche du Roi
Musée du Quai Branly, Flammarion, Paris. Catalogue d’exposition.

2007
Why Africa?
Exhibition catalogue. Published by Electa & Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli.

2006
100% Africa
Exhibition catalogue. Published by TF Editores & FMGB Guggenheim Bilbao Museum.

2005
Romuald Hazoumè
Exhibition catalogue. Fondation Zinsou.

2005
Romuald Hazoumè : La Bouche du Roi
Exhibition catalogue. The Menil Collection.

2005
Arts of Africa: The Contemporary Collection of Jean Pigozzi
Exhibition catalogue. Published by Skira Edition & Grimaldi Forum Monaco.

2005
African Art Now: Masterpieces from the Jean Pigozzi Collection
Exhibition catalogue. Published by Merrell.

2004
Africa Remix
Exhibition catalogue. Published by Hatje Cantz.

2003
View on Colour : The colour forecasting book – Issue N° 24 (June)
”Armour”. United Publishers S.A.

2003
Magic makers objet of transformation
Catalogue ; Des moines Art Center

2002
Zeitgenössische Kunst Aus Afrika 14.
Kunster aus Côte d’Ivoire und Benin
Romuald Hazoumè p.144-157 interview
Publication: Bohlau Wien, Editeur: Thomas Fillitz, 408 pages. Texte en Allemand.

2002
40 JAHRE ; Fluxus und die Folgen
Exhibition catalogue. Kunstsommer Wiesbaden 2003

2002
Trade
Waren, wege, und werte im welthandel heute catalogue Fotomuseum Winterthur

2002
œil pour œil
Exhibition catalogue. Le ,rectangle centre d’art contemporain de la ville de Lyon.

2002
Romuald Hazoumè
p.144-157 interview .Publication: Bohlau Wien, Editeur: Thomas Fillitz, 408 pages. Texte en Allemand.

2002
Zeitgenössische Kunst Aus Afrika
14. Kunster aus Côte d’Ivoire und Benin
Romuald Hazoumé p.144-157 interview
Publication: Bohlau Wien, Editeur: Thomas Fillitz, 408 pages. Texte en Allemand.

2001
Facing up to the paste
Page fine Art XXIII texte :Anglais de frits Bless

2001
Dinge in der kunst des XX jahrunderts
Exhibition catalogue. Haus de kunst Mûnchen.

2001
Partage d’Exotisme
Exhibition catalogue for 5ème Biennale de Lyon

2000
The Bridge :Construction in process VI
Exhibition catalogue edited by Richard Thomas

2000
Perspectives sur l’art contemporain Africain
Pages 107-115 texte de JoelleBusca

2000
Sieben hûgel VII
Trâumen page 054 –055 texte en Allemand de Sabine Vogel

2000
Man-space
Exhibition catalogue published for the Kwangju biennale.

1999
Romuald Hazoumè
Océanique, la revue de la coopération française au Bénin.

1999
Romuald hazoumè " Vor Sicht " by Peter Volkwein.
Exhibition catalogue, Städtische Galerien Ingolstadt. Bilingual text: German, French.

1998
7. Triennale der Kleinplastik
Zeitgenössische Skulptur. Exhibition Catalogue
Europa Afrika: Romuald Hazoumè by André Magnin. Text in German.

1998
Benin, Benin Tussen Gisteren Morgen . Romuald Hazoumè by Frits Bless.
Exhibition catalogue, Van Reekum Museum, Apeldoorn. Text in German.

1997
Sexta Bienal de La Habana el individuo y su memoria
Catalogue AFAA, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

1996
Contemporary Art of Africa. Romuald Hazoumè by André Magnin, p.132-133.
Edited by André Magnin & Jacques Soulillou. Text in English.
Published by Harry N. Abraams.

1996
An Inside Story : African Art of Our Time.
Romuald hazoumè by Mieko Yoshihara.
Edited by Yukiya Kawaguchi, Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo.
Bilingual texts: Japanese, English.

1995
Romuald Hazoumè by André Magnin.
Istanbul 4th Biennal. Text in English.