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<strong>Dominique</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Villepin</strong> The <strong>fraternity</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>sorcerers</strong>: <strong>Wifredo</strong> <strong>Lam</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>poets</strong> <strong>Dominique</strong> <strong>de</strong> <strong>Villepin</strong> Nowhere are <strong>the</strong>re as many ghosts as in paintings. A question has always jumped into my mind looking at <strong>Lam</strong>’s works: what is a ghost? I believe, it is <strong>the</strong> shape <strong>of</strong> a memory, a spirit distilled through <strong>the</strong> mechanics <strong>of</strong> time. It is <strong>the</strong> part in us that doesn’t <strong>de</strong>cay, but remains, endures <strong>and</strong> even fortifies. It is what art has been forged to bring back to life <strong>and</strong> to recreate. And, in<strong>de</strong>ed, <strong>Lam</strong>’s paintings are lively ghosts <strong>of</strong> our new global culture. They emerge from <strong>the</strong> past, from <strong>the</strong> accumulation <strong>of</strong> images <strong>and</strong> inventions <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 20 th century as something that speaks to us, that tells us how to confront this world <strong>of</strong> diversity, <strong>of</strong> uprooting <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> exile, how to invent new magic where old beliefs have gone astray. They <strong>of</strong>fer ceremonies for a new communion in mo<strong>de</strong>rnity. In a time <strong>of</strong> broken <strong>and</strong> bloody i<strong>de</strong>ntities, in a time <strong>of</strong> cultural hegemony <strong>of</strong> mass-consumption, <strong>Wifredo</strong> <strong>Lam</strong> provi<strong>de</strong>s us a place <strong>of</strong> resistance, a refuge, a ro<strong>of</strong> <strong>and</strong> even a womb for a new birth. As years go by, <strong>Wifredo</strong> <strong>Lam</strong> keeps growing, at par with <strong>the</strong> giants <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> century, to <strong>the</strong> size <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> world, he, <strong>the</strong> son <strong>of</strong> a Chinese man from Guangdong <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> a Cuban woman with both criollo <strong>and</strong> slave ancestors with origins in Africa, raised in Cuba <strong>and</strong> revealed in France, famous in America, shown throughout <strong>the</strong> world in beautiful exhibitions like this one, curated by <strong>the</strong> Galerie Gmurzynska <strong>of</strong> Zurich. Before <strong>the</strong> word globalization even entered our vocabulary, he embodied <strong>and</strong> exemplified <strong>the</strong> global man. Not only was he global in his grasp <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> world, but he was also universal in his un<strong>de</strong>rst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>of</strong> art. He believed in an art <strong>of</strong> essence, a poetry <strong>of</strong> forms <strong>and</strong> colours that would allow cultures, languages <strong>and</strong> beliefs to interconnect <strong>and</strong> transcend <strong>the</strong>ir differences. Our world is getting out <strong>of</strong> touch with itself. It is <strong>de</strong>railing <strong>and</strong> losing grasp <strong>of</strong> its inner magic. To me, this mission <strong>of</strong> poetry that has accompanied man on his beautiful <strong>and</strong> violent journey through history, this function <strong>of</strong> language beyond concepts <strong>and</strong> realities, through evocations <strong>and</strong> invocations, is <strong>the</strong> true nature <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> real force <strong>of</strong> <strong>Lam</strong>’s paintings <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> reason why his relationship to <strong>poets</strong> <strong>and</strong> poetry is <strong>the</strong> key to his work. Among <strong>the</strong> many <strong>poets</strong> who accompanied him on <strong>the</strong> way <strong>of</strong> creation throughout his life, I would like to mention three <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se masters <strong>of</strong> witchcraft <strong>of</strong> words who illustrate each a part <strong>of</strong> <strong>Lam</strong>’s <strong>de</strong>ep <strong>and</strong> complex relationship to poetry, André Breton, Aimé Césaire <strong>and</strong> René Char. But <strong>the</strong>y are only three <strong>of</strong> <strong>Wifredo</strong> <strong>Lam</strong> <strong>and</strong> André Breton, Haïti 1945 55 55
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