In Conversation: Romuald Hazoume and Christa Clark

On October 25, 2023, the Neuberger Museum of Art welcomed the return of internationally acclaimed artist Romuald Hazoumè and exhibition curator Christa Clarke for an artist talk about the show Romuald Hazoumè: The Fâ Series. Join the conversation as they discuss Hazoumè’s work across media and his personal artistic journey through the visual lexicon of the West African divination system Fâ.

Romuald Hazoumè: The Fâ Series presents a significant body of work by internationally renowned, Venice Biennale-bound artist Romuald Hazoumè based on his dedicated study of Fâ divination.

Fâ is a centuries-old knowledge system that originated among Yorùbá-speaking communities in Nigeria, where it is known as Ifá. Its practice has since extended elsewhere in west Africa including the Republic of Benin, where Hazoumè is based, and to the diaspora.

Romuald Hazoumè: The Fâ Series presents twenty-two works, primarily from the mid-1990s. The majority of these large-scale canvases draw from the visual lexicon associated with Fâ, evoking its sacred knowledge through symbols and signs. While the series is regarded by the artist as foundational to his overall creative practice, it has received scant attention to date. The Neuberger exhibition will be the first to focus exclusively on these intimate and esoteric works that hold deep personal meaning for the artist.

About the Artist
Romuald Hazoumè was born in 1962 in Porto-Novo, Benin, where he maintains his studio practice today. An internationally acclaimed artist who works across media, Hazoumè has exhibited his work in major museums across the globe including the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London; the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin; the Centre Pompidou, Louis Vuitton Foundation, and the Musée Quai Branly in Paris; the ICP in New York; and most recently, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. He has participated in biennials in Lyon, Gwangju and Moscow and, in 2007, was awarded the Arnold Bode Prize at documenta 12.

Most recently, Hazoumè was selected as one of four artists that will represent the Republic of Benin in its first national pavilion during the next Venice Biennale. The 60th edition of the most prestigious and oldest-running art biennial will take place from April 20th to November 24th, 2024.

His works are in prominent public and private collections around the world, including the permanent collections of the Fondation Zinsou in Cotonou, the British Museum in London, the National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Pigozzi Collection in Geneva and the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris.

Romuald Hazoumè: The Fâ Series is organized by the Neuberger Museum of Art and curated by Christa Clarke, an independent curator and art historian and Senior Advisor at the Center for Curatorial Leadership.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue with essays by curator Christa Clarke and by Didier Houénoudé, professor of art history at the University of Abomey-Calavi in Cotonou, Benin, that will be the first extensive exploration of this important body of work.

The Romuald Hazoumè: The Fâ Series exhibition has been made possible through the generous support of Dr. Susan R. Harris in honor of her late husband, Thomas Molnar, a collector of African art and a docent at the Neuberger Museum of Art for over 20 years.

Additional funding has been provided by ArtsWestchester with funding made possible by the Westchester County government with the support of County Executive George Latimer; the Milton Rosenthal African Art Endowment; and the Roy. R. Neuberger Legacy Endowment.