Hervé Youmbi

Biographie

Hervé Youmbi was born in Bangui, Central African Republic, in 1973, and was raised and currently resides and works in Cameroon. He trained in art in France at Ecole Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (ESAD), Strasbourg and in Cameroon, where he currently works.Youmbi’s practice interrogates stereotypes about African art, including the separation of classical and contemporary African art, notions of authenticity and “tribal styles” applied to classical African art, as well as issues of commodification and repatriation of traditional African art. Youmbi is a founding member of Cercle Kapsiki, a collective of five Cameroonian visual artists established in 1998.