For the Contemporary Design Market, painter and illustrator Gilles Mayk Navangi has created a collection of papier-mâché objects, inspired by African culture and the traditional know-how of the continent.
He has focused his research on African architecture, particularly seen in the Sahel region. Like the Great Mosque Djingareyber in Mali, the takyenta of the Batammaribas people in Benin and Togo or the Teleuk of the Mousgoum people in Cameroon.
At the same time, he was interested in the relationship between African tribes and their motifs in daily life, like the ornamentation of houses or objects, for make-up, scarification, etc.
This research has resulted in 5 sculptures, made out of papier-mâché and illustrated through his graphic universe. The choice of papier-mâché lies in the very raw touch it presents, while being a modern production technique. The manual approach and the relationship between simplicity of execution and complexity of forms are aspects that refer to African philosophy.
Several components of African ancestral heritage are evoked here, including science, technology, and spirituality.