PARIS.- The Mus閑 du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac is presenting "Silent Violence: Through the Eyes of Rom閛 Mivekannin," an exhibition examining the colonial history of museums and the troubling legacy of the so-called "human zoos" that operated in Paris during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Opening November 10, 2026, and continuing through April 4, 2027, the exhibition brings together thirteen large-scale paintings, four iron sculptures, and a ceramic work by the Franco-Beninese artist, most of them created specifically for the occasion.

Presented in the museum's Galerie Marc Ladreit de Lacharri鑢e, the exhibition offers a critical reconsideration of how African people and cultures were represented, classified, and displayed during the colonial period. Drawing on historical photographs preserved in the museum's collections, Mivekannin transforms archival imagery into contemporary works that question the relationship between representation, power, and historical memory.

Born in Bouak�, C魌e d'Ivoire, in 1986, Mivekannin lives and works in Toulouse, France. His artistic practice combines painting, historical research, and an interest in the ways European visual culture has depicted Black subjects. His background in cabinetmaking, art history, and architecture informs an approach that moves between two-dimensional images and sculptural installations.

A distinctive feature of his paintings is his use of acrylic combined with a brown-mud-based elixir applied to woven French cloth. The resulting surfaces evoke the aged appearance of historical photographs while introducing an unmistakably contemporary intervention. The artist frequently incorporates his own likeness into scenes derived from European paintings and photographic archives, inserting himself into visual histories in which Black individuals were often presented through the perspectives of others.

In "Silent Violence," this approach becomes particularly significant as Mivekannin revisits photographs documenting ethnographic exhibitions held in Paris between 1888 and 1910. Such spectacles presented people from colonized territories to European audiences, reducing individuals and communities to objects of public curiosity under the guise of ethnographic observation.

Rather than simply reproducing these images, Mivekannin reinterprets them, drawing attention to the structures of power that determined who was represented, who controlled the representation, and who was permitted to look.

The exhibition opens with four sculptural works resembling iron aviaries. Each is modeled on a Parisian museum building associated with France's colonial history and the development of ethnographic collections.

These include the former Mus閑 d'Ethnographie du Trocad閞o, the west wing of the Palais de Chaillot, the Palais de la Porte Dor閑, and the Mus閑 du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac itself.

The structures are rendered as miniature architectural forms without openings, transforming familiar cultural institutions into powerful metaphors for confinement. By presenting museums as enclosed cages, Mivekannin raises questions about the historical relationship between collecting, displaying, and controlling the cultural heritage of colonized societies.

The sculptures were produced according to the artist's designs in collaboration with Ivorian blacksmiths in Abidjan, introducing a contemporary connection between African craftsmanship and the European institutions represented by the works.

The exhibition's second major section is devoted to thirteen large-scale paintings suspended within the gallery space. Their installation allows the canvases to appear to float, establishing a physical relationship between the contemporary artworks and the historical photographs from which they originated.

The opening painting in this section reinterprets a photograph dating from between 1878 and 1887 that depicts African objects displayed at the Mus閑 d'Ethnographie du Trocad閞o. In the original image, the objects were arranged alongside two mannequins, reflecting the display conventions of European ethnographic museums at the time.

The remaining twelve paintings focus on scenes of ethnographic exhibitions staged at the Champ-de-Mars and the Jardin d'Acclimatation between 1888 and 1910.

These historical sites became settings in which African women and men were exhibited before the public, reinforcing colonial ideas about cultural difference and European authority.

Through his reinterpretations, Mivekannin shifts attention from the spectacle itself to the people subjected to its gaze. His paintings ask viewers to consider the individuals behind archival images and the circumstances in which those photographs were produced.

The exhibition also introduces an unusual method of displaying its historical sources. The original photographs are available for viewing on request through an installation resembling one-way glass.

Visitors encounter a reflective surface that allows them to see themselves while looking at the contemporary paintings. To reveal the historical images, they must take an additional step, turning the act of looking into a conscious decision.

The installation transforms spectatorship into part of the exhibition's subject, inviting audiences to reflect on their own position in relation to images shaped by colonial domination.

At the conclusion of the exhibition, Mivekannin moves from the history of institutional representation toward a different form of cultural symbolism.

A ceramic work pays tribute to Sakpata, a Vodun deity associated with the earth, fertility, and healing. Made using European soil and elements of Beninese culture, the work brings together materials and references from different cultural traditions.

Explaining the piece, the artist states: "I want it to contain a symbolism that is universal."

Placed at the end of an exhibition devoted to historical injustice and colonial representation, the ceramic introduces themes of cultural continuity, healing, and the possibility of finding new meanings in materials associated with different histories.

Curated by Ga雔le Beaujean, Head of the museum's African Heritage Collections Unit, with scientific guidance from Christine Barthe, Head of its Photographic Collections Heritage Unit, the exhibition draws directly on the institution's photographic holdings.

Its presentation also reflects the museum's engagement with the complex histories of the objects and images in its care. By inviting a contemporary artist to reinterpret these collections, the project places archival material in dialogue with artistic perspectives that challenge earlier systems of representation.

The exhibition is organized in collaboration with Mivekannin and Galerie C閏ile Fakhoury, which operates in Abidjan, Dakar, and Paris, and is supported by the Fondation Marc Ladreit de Lacharri鑢e.

It also forms part of a broader cultural moment in France, coinciding with the Bicentenary of Photography, organized by the French Ministry of Culture from September 2026 through September 2027. The nationwide and international program celebrates two centuries of photographic history through exhibitions, conferences, educational initiatives, and other events.

Photography's role as both a historical document and an instrument of colonial representation lies at the heart of Mivekannin's exhibition. By transforming archival photographs into new paintings and sculptures, the artist demonstrates how images can carry the traces of unequal power relationships long after the events they document.

"Silent Violence: Through the Eyes of Rom閛 Mivekannin" will be on view from November 10, 2026, through April 4, 2027, at the Mus閑 du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac in Paris.