From the famous Moma in New York in the United States to the Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane in Australia, via the British Museum in London or the Zinsou Foundation in Benin, the works of Romuald Hazoumè are exhibited all over the world. His masks made from petrol cans tell the story of humanity in their own way: the slave trade, immigration, social tensions.
But if the plastic artist known for his outspokenness comments in private on African political news, he is careful not to pour out in the press outside his field, contemporary art. Fearing that his positions will be misunderstood. “I’m not a lecturer,” he says. For Young Africahowever, he agreed to make an exception and to lend himself to this perilous exercise.
Jeune Afrique: The French presidential election was marked by a breakthrough of the far right, among French people and dual nationals living in Africa. Does this surprise you?
Romuald Hazoumè Nothing surprises me at the moment. But Africans must realize that it is best to stay at home. We must develop our countries and no longer think that the solution lies in emigration to the West. We must stop with the myth of the European Eldorado. We can succeed in Africa.
Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso are now ruled by military juntas. Are they a panacea in the face of state failure?
The return of the military to power is unfortunate for our countries. In Benin, between 1960 and 1972, we experienced a dozen coups d’etat. And to take us where? Nowhere. It is an eternal restart. Even today, we are witnessing coups and no one is learning from past experiences. So much for the Africans.
Should Africa play a role of mediator between Ukraine and Russia, as the President of the African Union, Macky Sall wishes?
Wanting to play the role of arbiter or facilitator is putting the finger in the eye and it is a bad idea. The priority for us Africans is to manage to develop our countries, to no longer be dependent on either the United States or Russia. We have the means. We are the richest continent in the world. But we continue to look at others, and to question ourselves on the block behind which we should line up.
We can decide to stop eating wheat and depend on imports: we have corn, rice or our cereals that we can produce in sufficient quantity to meet our needs. We are capable of being self-sufficient in terms of food and energy as well, as the Inga dam on the Congo River proves. But we never took our responsibilities. Africans need to work on being self-reliant and developing rather than watching others.