I am Viviane MAGHELA a Cameroonian Based independent Curator, Arts Manager and Art Advisor. I brought my education in Management and Communication into engagement in Arts and Culture Management and later on with contemporary African art. I followed a two-year residency at ArtBakery, an art center based in the village of Bonendale a few kilometers from Douala and founded by the late Goddy Leye. The center offered training for emerging artists (Master Class), journalists (Art Daily) and residency programs for young artists (Portfolio). ArtBakery was specifically designed to provide technical support for the production of multimedia, video and digital art. This is how i started my career before moving on to other projects such as Kolatier (Music market), DUTA (photography festival), Art Convention (contemporary Collective exhibition), BALAMA (Multidisciplinary arts market), Street Fashion Concepts(project with fashion designers. I am currently the Artistic Director of Douala Art Fair, a major catalyst in the activation of art and culture for all. I work to develop and bolster relationships with collectors, galleries, artists and curators around the globe. My directorship at Douala Art Fair further cements the fair’s commitment to cultivating a culture of discovery, education and thought leadership. As young independent art curator, Manager and Advisor i collaborate with galleries, institutions and artist-run spaces to organize exhibitions and events. I work with a large variety of clients from Performing Arts, contemporary art, Movie to independent creative studios and emerging/early-career artists. I advise young art collectors on all matters related to the acquisition, sale and management of their art collections My curatorial practice investigates issues of sustainability and precarity of artist’s practice in Cameroon and Africa in general. My work is that of a catalyst, a sparing partner, helping artist realizes their projects. I nurture emerging /early- career artists to produce projects that ultimately act as supports structure for their development. For me curating is taking care, looking after collections of arts and artifacts, safeguarding the heritage of art, selecting new work, connecting to art history, displaying or arranging. I also focus on different aspects of relationship between art and public spaces questioning the role that art can play activating different forms of participation of citizens. I love working multiple disciplines junction-maker enabling art meet theatre meet dance meet music, meet movie. My first experience as curator was a collective exhibition “Art Convention” of 50 Contemporary Cameroonian artists of different generations and various media (painting, sculpture, video; installation; performing, drawing).I used my skills in management and communication imbued my creativity, sensibility, and passion for arts and culture and an open mind to mount the exhibition. I later worked for tow edition of Duta (Photography festival) created by Ewane NJA KWA/Jounalist/photographer as the Artistic Director. Since then I have being working on multidisciplinary projects. Early this year I curated an exhibition of emerging/early-career photographers on the theme “sustainable city” the exhibition was a restitution of six month workshop organize by Les Ateliers Kam’Art a workshop and mentoring program created by Max MBAKOP a photographer and Art Entrepreneur. "Sustainable City" offers an immersion in images in our cities. In addition to an inventory, the exhibition highlights current - partial - responses to the challenges of the sustainable city, the new dynamics at work in cities and questions the future of the urban model. Between photography, video, installation and fashion, the exhibition illustrates the challenges of urban planning and the actions carried out in this sector. Solutions for thinking about a more open, fairer and more sustainable city, solutions to encourage citizens to get involved by thinking about the way they circulate, consume, recycle, interact and travel. My main project for the moment is Douala Art Fair. I am working with my team on the 3rd edition under the theme “Tell Me the Future” The most striking and daily observation shows without difficulty how badly our world is doing. Unknown diseases, devastating floods and earthquakes, conflicts still arising, peace agreements broken: the present is not rosy and the future can be frightening. The weather is getting worse. And it is true that our world is experiencing an earthquake with the coronavirus pandemic. What will the world be like in six months? Ten years from now? Where do we go? What future for humanity? Tell me the future!! Today, as in the past, African artists, despite the immense challenges they face, are committed to changing the course of things, imagining and/or building a new world. I believe in their potential .For this 3rd edition we would like to present artists who, like Goddy LEYE, Barthelemy TOGUO, Aida MULUNEH, Martin AMBARA, Bill KOUELANY, Dominique ZINKPE, Romuald HAZOUME, ... are committed, carry messages of change, transition and offer positive visions of the future.

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