Walking across the Kruisplein, you can't miss them; plain wooden houses without doors. This mini-village is part of a triptych from visual artist Pascale Marthine Tayou and is part of the Where is Africa programme section. The other two parts are installed in the Schouwberg; multiple video images from his birthplace Cameroon and an enormous artwork made from plastic bags. 'From cheap to chic'.
He's shown his work at major art exhibitions (the Venice Biennale, Documenta in Kassel) and is now part of the programme section Where is Africa in Rotterdam. Pascale Marthine Tayou emphasises that his work is not a statement about Africa. 'My background is African, but my work is universal. The festival has created an opening for African films. I've not reacted to this by making a work that celebrates Africa or shows what sort of continent it is. What I've tried to do, as an independent artist, is to make contact with the festival.'
He wanted to make a dialogue, like he does in much of his work. 'I wanted to make something simple for the festival, which has turned out to be a triptych where one of the works appears outside the Schouwberg. I like to use objects from daily life, in this case small garden sheds. As you go to look at the sheds you hear a lot of noise from the inside, but there are no doors.' He's interested to see how people react to this. 'You try to control the atmosphere and get a reaction. Often children really try to get inside the huts. I hope it gets people thinking.'
Outside the Schouwberg the public are effectively shut out, but inside the artworks are more intimate in nature. In a much bigger wooden hut (Earthquake), with space for around twenty people, Tayou's films are being shown. Long electricity cables lead the visitor from the artwork to the stairs and upwards. Here and there hang sets of headphones; although they are just out of reach the sound can still be heard.
At the top of the stairs is an installation with various television screens. Here you can see everyday life in Cameroon. Further along is a beautifully lit two storey high installation made from coloured plastic bags. A group of volunteers from the festival spent a day and a half tying them together.
The first association that comes across is climate. This is of course, one of the messages of the work but the basic idea was to make something valuable from something that is easily accessible to everyone. 'From cheap to chic.' Film plays an important role in his installations, although it's not connected to African cinema. 'I've no idea what African cinema is, it's such a big continent.' Film is a medium to him, just like paint or clay. 'I really try to mould it. My view on montages and camera angles is very different from an educated film maker. As I learned to use the camera, I developed my own technique.
In the process of filming, I seemed to have a preference for filming people at work, just normal daily life. The images give an idea of the world where I grew up and the mutual relationships between people there. I want people to look at each other and be open with each other.'
His work also indirectly says something about African society. 'In Africa there is something not quite right. How can it be that our leaders live in enormous houses with 45 cars in the garage? Now normal people are dreaming of the same thing. The leaders behave as if they are gods. We have to give people other dreams, other goals. Otherwise everyone who comes to power will do exactly the same. Leaders have to share their power and care for their people.' (WK)