Bwo Gallery is delighted to announce the opening of "Fragments d’origines: Une odyssée ancestrale," an evocative solo exhibition of the Cameroonian painter Victorien Bazo at the gallery in Douala. Opening on 21 September, 2024, this exhibition marks a pivotal moment in Bazo’s career, showcasing his first solo presentation in a gallery and offering a profound exploration of cultural heritage through his distinctive narrative style.

Victorien Bazo’s work invites viewers into a visual dialogue that intertwines personal reflections with universal themes of cultural hybridity and movement. Set amidst the rural Bamiléké region of Western Cameroon, Bazo’s paintings are both intimate and expansive. They reflect a personal journey that began a few years ago with the aim of gaining a deeper understanding of himself by delving into a heritage that, while existent, felt distant to him as most of his life was spent in the city. Yet, although the artist’s approach and process may seem entirely personal, the American artist Kerry James Marshall, in an essay titled “Shall I Compare Thee…?”, reminds us that in reality, an artist’s creative process is not autonomous in itself, as it is often related to historical and political dynamics. In Bazo’s case, the driving event at the heart of his exploration is colonization, due to the profound disruptions it caused in African societies, diluting traditions and blurring lines of transmission. His canvases are constructed as complex mosaics where multiple perspectives converge to offer a deeper understanding of the human experience in a world undergoing globalization and intense acculturation. Photography plays a central role in Bazo’s creative process, capturing precise moments that he reinterprets in figurative painting. This approach reflects how the past illuminates the present, transforming fragments of reality into vibrant scenes that are continuously reinvented. Throughout the series, the viewer is invited on a journey to rural settings, spaces where ancestral knowledge is passed down, and daily life is shaped by tradition. Bazo demonstrates through this series exceptional technical mastery and a singular aesthetic approach, consistently blending cultural heritage with contemporary innovation. A clear illustration could be found in the painting “Bienvenue sur la terre ancestrale” [translates to: Welcome to the Ancestral Land], where he creates a captivating visual tale, using warm tones of ochre and earthy reds, contrasted by off-whites and subtle beiges. Some canvases are anchored by a detail in the corner—negative imprints of symbols serving as a portal into various aspects of ancestral life—enriching the narrative dimension and allowing a deep exploration of culture and identity.