Lot Essay
African born artist Meschac Gaba worked as autodidact in Benin. In 1996 he arrived in The Netherlands and begun studying at the Rijksakademie voor Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam (1996-1998). During his studies there, the artist started his project The Museum of Contemporary African Art and created the first space, The Draftroom. The project criticizes the lack of African contemporary art in western art institutions as well as the way this art, if exhibited, is represented. Gaba has expanded the project over the last years by creating more rooms. The artist stresses also the fact that there are hardly museums of contemporary art or a circuit of galleries in African countries. Gaba's museum is not only created for the western art world but even more for his African art colleagues. Gaba is working and living in the Netherlands. The Museum Shop and Humanist Space, integrated rooms of The Museum of Contemporary Art were represented in Documenta 11, Kassel (2002). Solo-exhibitions were presented in the Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2002) and S.M.A.K., Gent (2000). His work was part of the exhibition Unlimited.NL#2 in de Appel in 1999. Meschac Gaba attended as guest speaker the lectures/discussion That was then, this is now: Talk Show in de Appel in 2006.