18 December 2024
In Memoriam: Lionel Manga (1955 – 2024)
Marjolijn Dijkman & Annette Schemmel
Lionel Manga, photo Marjolijn Dijkman, 2010
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Born in 1955 in Dschang, Cameroon, Lionel Manga was a Cameroonian journalist, writer, curator, and art critic. A lover of culture and literature, he is the author of the book L'ivresse du papillon, published in 2008, which is considered the first work dedicated to contemporary art in Cameroon. His first novel, “La Sphère de Planck”, was published two years ago in 2022, by Ròt-Bò-Krik in France.
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Read online:
ECHOES - DiARTgonale special edition #2
Including the contribution 'Post Script' by Lionel Manga & Vincent Meessen, 2013
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Visual Arts in Cameroon:
A Genealogy of Non-formal Training 1976-2014
Author: Annette Schemmel
"Visual Arts in Cameroon" is a continuation of the DiARTgonale Special Editions #1 (2012) and #2 (2013), which continue to be available at Motto Berlin or through Enough Room for Space
Purchase:
Langaa RPCIG
African Books Collective
Amazon France
Amazon US
Lionel Manga speaking at Talking About, Enough Room for Space, Rotterdam, photo: Marjolijn Dijkman, 2009
Lionel Manga speaking at screening program curated by Enough Room for Space, Douala, CM, Photo: Marjolijn Dijkman, 2010
Lionel Manga speaking at discursive event with Enough Room for Space, Douala, CM, Photo: Marjolijn Dijkman, 2010
Rest in Power Lionel Manga (1955 - 2024)
“Si nous voulons que le monde soit différent, il faut que notre langue pour le dire soit différente.” Lionel Manga quoted in Le Monde Afrique, 4/12/2022
As an artist collective, we are mourning the loss of a beautiful kindred soul from Cameroon, who died prematurely earlier this week. We remember Lionel passionately sharing his evocative views, which were both poetic and critical. We love to picture him in one of his favorite places, in Doual’Art’s garden by “the old mango tree that stands there covered with moss and epiphytes (...), a microclimate that affords a serenity in which conversations blossom between laughter and exclamation.” (Lionel quoted in “Post-Script”, ECHOES, DiArtgonale, 2013)
Our first encounter took place in 2009 in Enough Room for Space’s Rotterdam studio, followed by many meetings and exchanges in Europe and Cameroon. In 2013, we published the exchange ‘Post Script’ between Lionel Manga and Belgian artist Vincent Meessen in the journal DiArtgonale ECHOES, and Annette Schemmel quoted him abundantly in the case study “Visual Arts in Cameroon: A Genealogy of Non-formal Training 1974-2014”, Langaa, Bamenda 2016.
Lionel was a true spokesman for several generations of artists in Cameroon and beyond. We will miss his contagiously open and free spirit, extraordinary talent for words, and provocative decolonial thinking.
Marjolijn Dijkman and Annette Schemmel
(initiators of “Present Perfect”, 2007-2017, Enough Room for Space)
“Persuadé, par ce qu’il avait vu et entendu, qu’un autre Cameroun était tout à fait possible en ce XXIe siècle, moyennant tout de même un saut quantique.” - Lionel Manga, “La Sphère de Planck”, 2022.
Lionel Manga and Annette Schemmel at the launch of DiARTgonale ECHOES, Douala, CM Photo: Paul-Henri Souvenir Assako, December 2013
