Doual'art, Contemporary art museum in Bonanjo district, Douala, Cameroon.
Doual'art occupies a former cinema building in the Bonanjo district and displays works by Cameroonian and international contemporary artists. The institution uses multiple gallery spaces to present different artistic approaches and media.
Doual'art was founded in 1991 by Marilyn Douala Bell and Didier Schaub, initially without a fixed venue, producing site-specific works across Douala's neighbourhoods. In 1995 the architect Danièle Diwouta-Kotto restored the former cinema of the Palace of the Douala Kings, known as the Pagode, in Bonanjo on Place du Gouvernement, creating the Espace doual'art. The building belongs to the Douala Manga Bell family.
The SUD Salon Urbain de Douala, launched in December 2007 with a second edition in 2010 and a third in 2013, is a triennial that commissions ephemeral and permanent public art across Douala's neighbourhoods. Its works include La Colonne Pascale by Pascale Marthine Tayou, a totem of 76 pots and 38 lids at the Shell roundabout in New Bell, and L'Arbre à Palabres by Frédéric Keiff, a pyramid over 5 metres high used as a meeting place.
Espace doual'art sits on Place du Gouvernement in Bonanjo, in the former cinema of the Douala kings' palace, restored by architect Danièle Diwouta-Kotto. The layout combines exhibition rooms, two offices for art professionals, a public documentation library, a cafeteria and a shaded outdoor terrace garden. The centre mounts about eight exhibitions a year alongside performances, conferences and workshops.
The institution commissioned the sculpture La Nouvelle Liberté by Joseph-Francis Sumégné in 1996, marking a shift in how contemporary art was approached in Cameroon. This project helped establish public art as a recognized practice in the country.
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