by In a country devastated by food and health emergencies, art is vital, says Hobisoa Raininoro. “It is important to give a note of hope, to show beauty, creativity, and to provide nourishment for the mind and imagination,” says the co-curator of the inaugural exhibition at Madagascar’s first major contemporary art center, Fondation H.
Until last year, Madagascar had a vibrant art scene but no public art museum or modern art school. Then, in April – after two years of renovation – a former post office in the capital, Antananarivo, opened its doors as the new Fondation H gallery.
his first exhibition, Bientôt je vous tisse tous – “soon I will see you all” – which lasts until the end of February, and is dedicated to Zoarinivo Razakaratrimo, doyenne of Malagasy art. Known as Madame Zo, her work has been exhibited around the world and acquired by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art in Washington.
The Fondation H exhibition is the first time the textile artist, who died in 2020, has been exhibited on such a scale in her home country.
Madame Zo was famous for her use of weaving, an ancestral tradition that continues to flourish. Her work drew inspiration from lamba wrap made of silk or cotton worn by both sexes in Madagascar and used by mothers to tie newborn babies to their backs and as a burial shroud.
The Malagasy art scene is emerging in a promising dynamic. Emerging trends reflect cultural richness
Richianny Ratovo
Visitors to Fondation H are greeted by giant woven works suspended from high ceilings, filling all five rooms over two floors of the large exhibition space.
“Madame Zo developed an extremely complex technique, freeing herself from the constraints of content or format,” says Raininoro.
“She had her own artistic language – her weaving has unusual shapes and sizes thanks to the motifs she made herself.
“They integrate hundreds of materials such as newsprint, magnetic tapes, electronic components, copper, bones, medicinal plants, industrial foam, rubber, wood chips or perishable foods.”
Hassanein Hiridjee, a French-Malagasy entrepreneur and chief executive of the pan-African conglomerate Axial started the H Foundation in 2017. The foundation initially had a much smaller space before opening the new building in April 2023.
“We invite hundreds of children from public schools every week at Fondation H. These children have very few chances and opportunities in their lives,” says Hiridjee, adding that the program encourages the children to “speak their own voice and create”.
“With a very closed education system, access to art is a way to open up the world and the possibilities,” says Raininoro.
One of the largest islands in the world, Madagascar has one of the highest global poverty rates. An estimated 1.6 million people are food insecure and in need of humanitarian assistance. Three quarters of the population are below the poverty line.
Richianny Ratovo, a young Malagasy artist who won Fondation H’s annual art prize, the Prix Paritana, in 2021, says that Fondation H has played a “defining role” in her career.
When she won the Paritana prize she did a three-month residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts, a complex in Paris that hosts artists, choreographers, musicians, writers and designers. Since then she has held a solo exhibition in the French capital and later in Madagascar.
“This opportunity allowed me to become a full-time artist,” she says. “Fondation H has made a significant impact on the art scene in Madagascar by filling the creative void resulting from the lack of art schools and institutions that promote art.”
The foundation has exhibited the works of at least 50 artists since its inception and sponsored the first Malagasy pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2019. It is part of a growing art scene in Antananarivo, with several art centers and galleries smaller ones coming, including Hakanto Contemporary, a non-profit space for artists; as well as the Is’art Galerie and Flow Gallery.
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“The Malagasy art scene is emerging in a very promising dynamic,” says Ratovo. “Emerging trends reflect cultural richness, making the scene extremely attractive.”
Temandrota, another Malagasy artist, says that “it takes courage” to practice art in Madagascar, and “the main challenge is to believe in art. [when] society does not”.
Madame Zo’s art is about these changing and challenging times, he says. “We have seen second-hand clothes from abroad – a sign of globalization – which contrasts with the old practice of weaving.
“Since the artist is never far from his or her world, Madame Zo is a reflection of the changing world – globalization in her weaving.”
