page_title: Barthélémy Toguo
section_title: Artwork
hierarchical_section_title: Barthélémy Toguo / Artwork
caption_attribution_description: English: beautiful
context_page_description: Barthélémy Toguo, is a Cameroonian painter, visual and performing artist born in 1967. He currently splits his time living and working in both Paris, France and Bandjoun, Cameroon. He works in a variety of media aside from visual and performing arts including photographs, prints, sculptures, videos, and installations.
context_section_description: Toguo is a multiple disciplinary artist whose work addresses migration, colonialism, race, exile and displacement. He started off reproducing classic European sculpture until 1992 where he took up woodcarving. At Grenoble he discovered photography and video and experiments with German realism. Later at Dusseldorf, he becomes interested in performance art and in 1996 Toguo performs his Transit series. In the late 1990s he began his exploration with watercolor. These watercolors were inspired by his travels and experiences and then evolved even more when he discovered his fascination with passports and their stamps. The passport had the ability to document an individual's travels across borders. This small book contains a variety of stamps that became a visual mark of the policing of humans. This concept of belonging stems from his dual citizenship in both Cameroon and France. His work has also been informed by the social movements including Black Lives Matter seen in his Black Lives Always Matter series and the refugee crisis seen in The Beauty of Our Voice work.
  Aside from the stamps found within passports Barthelemy Toguo is also inspired by post cards. This can be seen within his work in the Head Above Water series. He traveled around the world collecting these cards in order to give the people a voice. He questioned people about their life conditions, current events, wars, and about their hopes and dreams. Toguo would go to these locations including schools, streets, and marketplaces and would gather the answers to his questions. Later, he would go to a local post office and create a postcard and address it to himself. He would not actually mail them but would rather keep them and carry them around with him on his trips.
caption: The Road to Exile is the centerpiece to The Beauty of Our Voice series. The monumental installation addresses the migrant and refugee crisis, the desire of young Africans to escape and specifically the desire of young Africans to escape in hopes for a better life.
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