'Museum of Contemporary African Art 1997 - 2002'

The Benin artist Meschac Gaba first conceived the 'Museum of Contemporary African Art' during his 1996–7 residency at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam. He describes finding ‘another reality’ when visiting museums in Europe, a reality in which he could not imagine how the art he wanted to create could be integrated: ‘I needed a space for my work, because this did not exist.’

Gaba has claimed that the 'Museum of Contemporary African Art' is ‘not a model… it’s only a question.’ It is temporary and mutable, a conceptual space more than a physical one, a provocation to the Western art establishment not only to attend to contemporary African art, but to question why the boundaries existed in the first place.

Before leaving the Rijksakademie in 1997 Gaba presented the first part of his project, the 'Draft Room'. Prefiguring many of the conceptual concerns and the aesthetic approach that Gaba would develop in later rooms, the 'Draft Room' contained an unusual assortment of handmade, found and altered objects. There were several works made from decommissioned banknotes, as well as heaps of ceramic foods that reflected his astonishment at the excessive overproduction in Europe.

Over the next five years further rooms would appear, one by one, in exhibitions and museums internationally. Some rooms, such as the 'Library', 'Museum Restaurant' and 'Museum Shop', are familiar elements of most contemporary Western art museums. However, by placing these traditionally subsidiary activities at the heart of his project, Gaba calls into question the nature and function of the museum and our relationship to it. By supplementing these sections with others, such as the 'Humanist Space', 'Marriage Room', 'Game Room' and 'Music Room', Gaba’s museum is a space not only for the contemplation of objects, but for sociability, study and play in which the boundaries between everyday life and art, and observation and participation are blurred.

03 July - 22 July