First Day in Cotonou

 Thursday, February 20  Cotonou, Benin

The flights to Benin were just fine, long, tedious, but no issues.  I’m traveling with Kathy Sinclaire (as two singles), a woman I’ve known a couple of months, who loves travel as I do, and when I told her about this trip, she signed up for the last spot.  We went Rochester-JFK-Paris-Cotonou and arrived late last night.

The weather is steamy.  90s and 100% humidity.  Most areas of the hotel have some air conditioning, and the hotel is lovely, with art throughout.  Here’s a bench outdoors:


Here’s one of the two pools:


And some of the art in the hotel:



We met another person who is on our tour (we'll be 12 altogether), Nancy Goldstein, and this morning after breakfast the three of us hired a driver and went to find the art galleries in Cotonou.  On the way, along the shoreline, is this incredible statue of an Amazon woman:

The writing on the base is in French.  Google translate gives the following rendition:

Symbol of our love and commitment to the country, our Amazons have known, through their bravery, as much as men, how to defend the homeland. Like our Amazons, the Beninese woman is our pride

We went to five galleries in all, here we are at one:

Perhaps we were most taken by the fiber art of Ange Arthur Koua:

From the gallery information sheet:

Born in 1989 in Abidjan, in the Abobo district, visual artist Ange Arthur Koua draws from the spirituality and legends of his people, the Agni (part of the Akan group) to deconstruct the borders drawn by man….  An Akan never dies.  When they pass away, their wawe—their soul—continues to live through the deceased’s clothing. 

Ange Arthur collects worn clothes from his neighbors, imbued with the soul of those who wore them.

None of us bought anything.  We then went to a street of innumerable stalls, selling all kinds of artifacts, clothing, masks and other carvings, and just about anything you can imagine:

Nancy (left) and Kathy (right) looked at some fabrics:

The women walk around with astonishing burdens of goods on their heads.  Here are some tomatoes:

Hot, sweaty and tired, we returned to the hotel and had a lovely lunch.  This evening there is an art exhibit opening at our hotel, and we look forward to that.

More when I have more to tell. 

Comments

  1. MarciaFebruary 20, 2025 at 12:28 PM

    For some reason I can now post comments on your blog (YEAH)! So glad you arrived in a boring manner with no issues. The fiber art of Ange Arthur Koua is quite impressive. I would like (with your permission) to repost the photo and information about the artist on my two fiber arts group lists. Stay hydrated and have fun!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Victor PoleshuckFebruary 20, 2025 at 10:54 PM

      Of course, Marcia. No need to ask, but thanks for doing so.

      Delete
  2. Ralph LockeFebruary 22, 2025 at 4:58 PM

    I find it striking how central visual art seems to be in Benin. Of course, I've seen photos of the centuries-old bronzes from there. Thanks for inserting all the photos, to give us a tiny taste of what you are experiencing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Victor PoleshuckFebruary 22, 2025 at 9:42 PM

      Ah--it's complicated. The Benin Bronzes are not from Benin (the former Dahomey) but rather from the Benin part of Nigeria, where Benin City is the center. When planning this trip, I, too, confused the origin of the bronzes at first.

      Delete

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