Alioum Moussa, born in 1977 in
Maroua
Maroua (Fula: Marwa, , 𞤥𞤢𞤪𞤱𞤢) is the capital of the Far North Region (Cameroon), Far North Region of Cameroon, stretching along the banks of the Ferngo River, Ferngo and Kaliao Rivers, in the foothills of the Mandara Mountains. T ...
(
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...
), is a graphic
designer
A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exper ...
and illustrator by
training. He lives and works in
Yaoundé
Yaoundé (; , ) is the Capital city, capital city of Cameroon. It has a population of more than 2.8 million which makes it the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region (Cameroon), Centre Region o ...
(Cameroon).
Biography
A self-taught visual artist, Alioum Moussa expresses himself through several media: primarily in
painting
Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...
but also performance, installation and assemblages of objects. In recent years, he has been experimenting with theatrical scenery. His career began in 1993, when he won the award for best Cameroonian artisan at a competition organized by the Ministry of Commerce. He has been honing himself through varied workshops in different parts of the world and at many residencies, IAAB (Basel, Switzerland) in 2006, to the University of Ideas, organized by the
Pistoletto Foundation (Biella, Italy) in 2010. He received an artist’s visa from AFAA/Culturesfrance in 2007. In 2010, he won the Illy contest and his design was selected to decorate coffee canisters on display and for sale. His gaze is filled with humor for the human being and the apparent monotony of being that masks its facetious figures. Over time his gaze has sharpened more and more on political themes, questioning the role of Africa in globalization.
Moussa works with the materials he finds, whether acrylics or mud. His latest explorations are based on the recycling of textiles, wax print fabrics or cotton clothing (T-shirts). By using second hand clothing as his principle medium, Moussa takes a stand against Africa being the dumping grounds of the industrial fashion world. ''“I’m talking about the manipulation of the thrift store circuit. Second hand clothing plays an important role in the economy, the purchasing power. (...) The hidden face of the thrift store (...) kind of translates into the relations between the West and Africa.”''
References
Bibliography
* Africultures, Alioum Moussa
* Gilvin, A. (2015): Games of Seduction and Games of History: Alioum Moussa’s Fashion Victims in Niamey, Niger. Cambridge University Press. http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9593720;DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/asr.2015.4
* Siegenthaler, F. (2006). Alioum Moussa à l’atelier IAAB, (Bâle) 2006.
nlineAlioum Moussa. Available at
ccessed 21 Nov. 2016
* Pensa, Iolanda (Ed.) 2017. Public Art in Africa. Art et transformations urbaines à Douala /// Art and Urban Transformations in Douala. Genève: Metis Presses.
See also
*
List of public art in Douala
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moussa, Alioum
Cameroonian painters
Cameroonian sculptors
21st-century Cameroonian artists
1977 births
Living people