Goddy Leye

Goddy Leye
Birth name Godfried Kadjo
Born 24 November 1965(1965-11-24)
Mbouda, Cameroon
Died 2011 (45 years old).
Bonendale, Cameroon
Nationality Cameroonian
Field Video art, installation art, Conceptual art, Art criticism
Training University of Yaoundé, Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten
Influenced by Pascal Kenfack

Goddy Leye (24 November 1965, Mbouda, Cameroon – 19 February 2011 Bonendale, Cameroon[1]) was a Cameroonian artist and intellectual.

His work is focused on videos, installations, conceptual art and theoretical contributions. He is the founder of the art centre ArtBakery in Bonendale and he is the curator and promoter of site-specific art and international projects. His role is central in the cultural and art scene in Cameroon and at the international level.

Contents

Life and career

Goddy Leye (real name Godfried Kadjo[2]) is born the 24th of November 1965 in Mbouda. He obtains his diploma in a bilingual high school in 1989 and he studies African literature and philology at the University of Yaoundé between 1986 and 1991; in 1990 he obtain his master in African literature. His artistic training starts in 1987 with the artist and art historian Pascal Kenfack in Yaoundé until 1992. He continues his training in 1994 at the National art institute in Bamako, in 1997 at the ZKM Karlsruhe Centre for Art and Media in Germany, in 199 at 18th Street Arts Complex in Santa Monica California and between 2002 and 2002 at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. In The Netherlands he co-funds and he becomes member of the Rijksakademie International Network (RAIN), a network of artists who support contemporary cultural practices in their countries of origin.[3] Specifically for his interest in supporting art practices, Goddy Leye moves back to Douala in 2002 to create in Bonendale the art centre ArtBakery, devoted specifically to facilitate artistic training and exchanges among artists and to support multimedia, installations, video and digital art.[4]

In 2002 he is the curator of the project Bessengue City, a workshop and a series of site-specific art projects in the neighbourhood Bessengue in Douala; the project involves Goddy Leye, James Beckett, Hartanto, Jesus Palomino and the local community.[5] In 2006 he promotes and participates in Exit Tour. In 2007 contributed to the Ars&Urbis Workshop organised in Douala by doual'art for the preparation of the SUD-Salon Urbain de Douala and he is in residency at the Blachère Foundation in Apt. In 2008 he is in residency at the cultural space Gasworks in London;[6] in 2009 he participates at the project Image Art After in dialogue with Florence Ayisi[7] and he contributes at the Cairo Residency Symposium.[8]

Goddy Leye's work received prizes from UNESCO, Rockefeller Foundation and the Dutch Foreign Ministry of Affairs.[9] As artist and intellectual he is involved in numerous expert committees; he is a member of the think tank of the Africa Centre in Cape Town and he is an ambassador of CAN Creative Africa Network.[10]

Work

Goddy Leye starts working as an artist in 1992[11].. His work is focussed on memory, African postcolonialism and on the construction of history. More specifically the artist expresses himself with multimedia works, videos and video installations. Through time, he starts to be involved more and more in the production of projects both in Cameroon and at an international level. He contributes to publications, he produced and curates site-specific artworks and he founds the centre ArtBakery. The centre offers tools and an infrastructure to artists interested in multimedia productions and it is characterised by an active role in training. Goddy Leye is considered a key artist and intellectual by Cameroonina artists of his generation and younger. Goddy Leye expresses his attention to the ways history is told and knowledge is transmitted and forgotten through his art works, writings and his active involvement in conferences and think tanks. His theorical contributions focusses on the structure of cultural institutions, on network systems, on the artistic and cultural practices[12] and on urban transformations.

Videos and installations

Solo exhibitions

Group exhibitions

Goddy Leye's work is exhibited in numerous festivals and international exhibitions.[27]

Theoretic contributions and curatorial work

Goddy Leye contributes to publications and magazines such as Chimurenga magazine. He actively supports the creation of the magazine DiARTgonale founded by the artist Achilleka. He is the founder and director of the centre ArtBakery, started in 2002. He is the curator of the project Bessengue City organised in the neighbourhood of Bessengue in Douala in 2002 and he is the promoter in 2006 of Exit Tour.

References

  1. ^ Goddy Leye overleden in Metropolism M, 19/02/2011.
  2. ^ Simon Njami, Dans la ville et au-delà, ‪Marval, 2007‬, p. 260.
  3. ^ RAIN network and website
  4. ^ ArtBakery on RAIN website.
  5. ^ Video on Bessengue City: Sandrine Dole and Goddy Leye, Bessengue City, 2002-2003.
  6. ^ Goddy Leye's residency at Gasworks.
  7. ^ Imagine Art After.
  8. ^ Goddy Leye at the Cairo Residency Symposium
  9. ^ Goddy Leye's biography on lowave.
  10. ^ CAN Creative Africa Network.
  11. ^ Goddy Leye'CV on his website.
  12. ^ Video with a conversation on artistic practices between Goddy Leye, Lionel Manga and Hervé Yamguen.
  13. ^ Description of the work.
  14. ^ Description of the work.
  15. ^ Description of the work and Presentation of the video.
  16. ^ Description of the work.
  17. ^ Description of the work.
  18. ^ Description of the work.
  19. ^ Description of the work and Presentation of the work at the Herrmann Gallery in Berlin.
  20. ^ Description of the work.
  21. ^ Description of the work.
  22. ^ DDescription of the work Reel Location with images.
  23. ^ Description of the work The Walking Mirror with images.
  24. ^ Description of the work.
  25. ^ Description of the work The Voice of the Moon with images.
  26. ^ Video of No Art On Two Dollars A Day.
  27. ^ Goddy Leye's biography and exhibitions on Artfacts.
  28. ^ Descrption of the exhibition SUD PARIS.
  29. ^ Presentation of Goddy Leye's work in Prêt-à-pARTager, 2008

Further reading

External links