Boussoles elles & eux Night messenger The lights and shadows of Joël Andrianomearisoa’s work have been navigating the nooks and crannies of the imagination for 20 years. He is now the guest artist at the first ever Malagasy pavilion at the Venice Biennale. In Malagasy, his name means “a noble A book unfurled For the first time in its person blessed by the gods.” Is he? Joël history, Madagascar has dropped anchor Andrianomearisoa smiles and shrugs, in La Serenissima, represented by this looking up to the sky. One thing he straight-speaking conceptual artist, a knows for sure is that he owes it all to his lover of textiles, “a universal medium,” native Madagascar, and to his upbring- and paper. Is Venice the high point of his ing, as the son of an “almost normal” career? No one who knows him would bourgeois family that wasn’t tempted to suggest such a thing. He prefers the settle in France after decolonization future to the past, using a single word to because they believed in their country: describe himself: uncertainty. “I don’t “I was an obedient student, neither bois- like finalities; I find them very hard. I like terous nor a daydreamer, fairly self-effac- satisfaction even less; it’s terrifying. ing, as is expected in Malagasy culture. Everyone thought I’d be happy to be in I learned to respect other people and the Venice—and I am, of course—but above discipline of time, which I still value, all, I’m relieved. Venice is like an even though my work, without intending entrance exam, and the rules of the con- to be provocative, can be a bit irrever- temporary art world are really tough. ent.” He sometimes comes across as a I gave it my all to complete this project, well-behaved, or, rather, self-assured working with lots of people, and this child, confident in his intuition and pre- pavilion will put Madagascar on the dilection for “the polyphony of things.” global map—it will no longer be an And that’s why he decided to study island adrift in the sea.” architecture, the field he knew least well, His pavilion at the Biennale, featuring an in Paris. It was there that he developed a installation entitled I Have Forgotten De profundis While he emphatically friendship with his maître à penser: Odile the Night/J’ai oublié la nuit, an indirect embraces his Madagascan identity and is Decq, “a woman in black who creates tribute to the poet Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo proud to be in Venice, Andrianomearisoa colorful architecture.” In 1998, at the age (1901–1937), is not a lavish exercise in rejects borders: “My grandparents influ- of 21, he made the cover of Revue Noire. style. He had set himself a single chal- enced me, unconsciously. My grandfa- Today, at 42, Andrianomearisoa is the lenge: to be himself and to create a radical ther on my father’s side, who was an best-known artist from his island-conti- work, like “a large book unfurled.” He academic, was an important supporter nent, and also the most highly regarded created the work in his studio in Magnat- of Malagasy language and literature. My since the 58th Venice Biennale. l’Étrange in the Creuse (central France) grandfather on my mother’s side was an and in his workshop in Antananarivo, engineer on the Madagascan railways using a single material, black tissue and helped to build the line between paper dyed with ink, like watercolor, Tananarive and Tamatave. He is the one made in the Dordogne. “When you walk who gave me a taste for other places.” around I Have Forgotten the Night, For Andrianomearisoa, those other places there are rustling sounds here and there, can be the snow-covered plains of the and movements that are created acci- Creuse, a painting by Morandi, a hotel in dentally; there is also a sound piece that Seoul, a trip to the shores of the Bosphorus punctuates the swaying of these pieces with the artist duo :mentalKLINIK, the of paper. No, it’s not a maze, and it’s not legend of Lake Tritriva, or invented memo- at all about the identity of a region. I’m ries of Ilafy Palace, north of Antananarivo, exploring the spaces in between and built from precious wood in the 19th cen- asking questions, but you can get carried tury on one of the sacred hills of Imerina. away by your emotions.” Marie-Cécile “Everything makes me melancholic, Zinsou, president of the Fondation but that doesn’t mean I’m sad,” he says. Zinsou in Benin, agrees: “When we “I explore the souls of things and the ability exhibited it in Cotonou and Ouidah, to forget. As Billie Holiday sang: ‘It’s easy in 2017, viewers were overwhelmed. to remember / But so hard to forget.’ ” Joël doesn’t impose a particular vision, he stimulates the imagination. Each of his works is a highly sensitive narration, En haut et en bas : Fleurs nocturnes, 2018. and in Venice, many of us from Benin À droite : études préparatoires. Above and left: Fleurs Nocturnes, 2018. could identify with this new venture.” Opposite: preparatory studies. 56 aosiraemonairdnA lëoJ ©