For this edition of Art-O-Rama, the gallery Les filles du calvaire is presenting a solo show by Maya Inès Touam, whose work explores notions of identity and transmission.
Suspended between the shores of the Mediterranean, her work questions a memory that is both intimate and postcolonial through photography, sculpture, and installation. A graduate of the Beaux-Arts de Paris in 2013, she develops an approach where objects become carriers of narratives and invisible connections between cultures.
As part of an artist residency in Senegal, supported by the Fonds de dotation de la Compagnie Fruitière, Maya Inès Touam deepened her research on African diasporas and postcolonial narratives. Her work examines how objects, silent witnesses of migration and history, crystallize the memory of territories and their inhabitants. Drawing from the symbolism of still life, her work engages in a dialogue with the legacy of Matisse, whose influence can be seen in the compositions, colors, and scenography of the booth, designed as an echo of his studio. Herbariums, vegetal frescoes, and objects structure the space, recalling the intertwining of the living and the past within the present.
Her approach, between anthropology and dreamlike aesthetics, weaves a link between art history and contemporary concerns, between Western form and Mediterranean narratives. This proposition aligns with the spirit of Art-O-Rama, where dialogues and cultural intersections are at the core of the artistic practices presented.
Through a booth conceived as a tribute to Matisse and the Mediterranean, the gallery highlights the richness of cultural hybridities. Art-O-Rama thus becomes a space of visibility for the artist and a place of encounter between memory, identity, and creation.
