Innovative Curatorial Projects – Paris / SingaporeGoddy Leye
*1965, Cameroon. †2011, Mbouda, Cameroon.
A teacher and cultural activist as well as a video artist, Goddy Leye played a key role on the Cameroonian arts scene, notably in the context of the Art Bakery, an experimental laboratory for contemporary practice that he founded in Bonendale, on the outskirts of Douala. There, he welcomed and mentored emergent artists from around the world. Following studies at the University of Yaounde and the Rijksakademie (Amsterdam), he participated in numerous residencies and group shows (Africa Remix 2004-07, Dakar Biennale in 1998, 2002 and 2010, the São Paulo Biennale in 2002), solo exhibitions (espace doul'Art, Douala, Galerie Peter Hermann, Berlin), and international film and video festivals (Vidéoformes, Clermont-Ferrand, France and Oberhausen International Short Film Festival, Germany, among many others). He received numerous awards and prizes, notably from UNESCO, the Rockefeller Foundation and The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Goddy Leye passed away in 2011. He is sorely missed.
The Voice of the Moon / Cameroon / 2005 / 3' / 4:3
A man alights on the moon. Neil Armstrong is there. In a steady stream of dance steps, to the sound of Cameroonian music, the man - the artist himself - moves toward the American astronaut. Slowly, Leye merges with Armstrong, becoming one with his body in a brief burst of Afrofuturist invasion. This short film is part of a larger five-channel video installation. Using a paired down aesthetic, it examines with humor and irony the history of colonial and neocolonial expansion and the imagery of empire.
The film and the larger installation also question how television news footage spreads hegemonic narratives and shapes the collective unconscious of political subjects.