FROM 3 JUNE 2024 TO 3 AUGUST 2024

For the 2nd edition of Holy Spoons... 

This twofold title interpretation, I owe it to Maine Durieu, who was the first to use this daring but relevant expression about the Baoulés, in her notebook, published in 2014. 

She is a woman I regret not having known better, to me she seemed so passionate and therefore ... fascinating. 

This double meaning - if you’ll agree - is perfect for spoons which, too, can be sacred and are often surprising spoons! 

Collector of tribal art from Africa for nearly thirty years, I have had the chance to discover and acquire a great many pieces, statues, masks, and others in large collections, but also from renowned galleries, as well as more modest ones. 

I thank them all for sharing their knowledge. Each time, it was a deeply enriching experience, and a great joy. 

For spoons, there is a lot of literature, notably from the late Musée Dapper, which made a very rich presentation in its exhibition and in the book that followed: “Cuillers Sculptures”, in 1991. 

The spoons presented in this exhibition are a part of the extreme wealth 

that Africa offers to our eyes, 

Often ritualistic, showing the high rank of its owner for some, demonstrating the richness of imagination of its sculptor. As such, they are part of the Great African Sculpture just like the statues and masks of different ethnic groups. 

I hope to bring to your eyes as much pleasure as I had in discovering these pieces and to participate, as much as is possible in making visible the invisible.»