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Miguel Barcelò went to the Ivory Coast, in 1991. After a travel to Gao, Mali, he went to Grand-Bassam to paint.
Grand-Bassam used to be the capital of the Ivory Coast and also the first harbour where Binger landed. Miguel had been captivated by West Africa at Gao, Mali. He,therefore, wished to settle somewhere in this part of the continent. I had the pleasure to meet him in the Ivory Coast where the thought he could live.
Grand-Bassam has the unquestionable charm of old colonial towns, with its houses overgrown with vegetation. Miguel stayed in one of these old houses made into a hotel where he created his studio. I would visit him there.
He would paint the sea shore, the channel where the ocean entered the lagoon. He used pigments of his own invention. He gave me the privilege to see his fabulous drawings before the general public.
As it was the end of the year, we invited Miguel to celebrate New Year’s Eve in Assinie, a small paradise with its endless beach under the coconut trees, between the lagoon and the ocean, where we owned a week-end bungalow. Jean-Michel Basquiat, Gérard Fromanger had been there and a lot more friends too. Every New Year’s Eve, the beach was lit up with the huge bonfires of dry palm leaves.
But Miguel preferred the Sahelian light and climate of Mali. I knew Mali well, for I had often been there, fascinated by the Dogons, their cosmogony and their cave-dwelling settlement on the famous Bandiagara cliff.
My husband, Hubert, had a very good friend in Mali, Amadou Simaga, who could help Miguel find the ‘place of his dreams’ ! We recommended Miguel to Simaga.
First, Miguel settled in a beautiful house in Sudanese style. I was delighted to meet him again as I was on a long journey in the Malian and Nigerian regions between the Sahel and the Sahara desert. Some years later, I would create installations on my itinerary from Abidjan to Tombouctou.
Finally, Miguel, enthralled by the Bandiagara cliff as I was myself, would set his heart on Gogoli where he had a Dogon house built close to the cliff.
Mali was also a source of inspiration for me and I would frequently go through the villages mentioned by Leiris, Germaine Dieterlen, Jean Rouch. That’s how I visited Miguel Barcelò again.
The last time we met was on the road in 1992. Miguel had decided to leave Mali. But, I could go to his house from where he had an absolutely breathtaking view on the whole cliff and its Dogon cave-dwelling settlements.
He even ‘lent’ me a door he was having made….the door became one of my works ‘The Door of the Sigui’ that I dedicated to Miguel Barcelò.
My husband and I had planned to visit Miguel in Majorca but my husband died and the plan to go and see the small donkeys there remained a dream. |
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