Em'kal Eyongakpa
Em’kal Eyongakpa (b. 1981) is an artist from Cameroon, holding degrees in Plant Biology, Ecology and a residency in Fine Art from the Rijksakademie Amsterdam. Still influenced by his former studies, his artwork explores notions of ideological consumption and the human condition, including questions of environment, identity and freedom. Eyongakpa creates installations and soundscapes that create alternative worlds through Cameroonian folk culture.
As Cameroon was subject to German colonial rule until after World War I when Cameroon was divided between France and Britain until 1961, Eyongakpa’s aim is to research how separations and socio-political structures from the time of division can still be identified today. In 2013, he exhibited in Sao Paulo at the 18th International Contemporary Art Festival Sesc_Videobrasil. In 2015, Eyongakpa gave a performance at Framer Framed, Amsterdam entitled ??Fullmoons later/ wata kulture II as part of the event Diasporic self: sound as lingua franca, curated and moderated by Amal Alhaag.
His solo projects include Objectifs, Doual’art, Douala, Cameroon; performance of SUN is the MOON, Goëthe Institut, Yaoundé, Cameroon and as part of group exhibitions he participated in Rencontres de Bamako: Biennale Africaine de la Photographie, Bamako, Mali, 2009; Synchronicity, Galerie Baudoin Lebon, Paris, France, 2011; Mo(ve)ments, Bag Factory, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2011; GAIA: Art Contemporain Aricaine, Atelier Richelieu, Paris, France, 2009.
