Galerie Monbrison

Olympia de Maismont, Egúngún

On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the PhotoSaintGermain festival, Galerie Monbrison, specializing in the arts of Africa and Oceania, presents an exhibition dedicated to Egúngún, major figures in the Yoruba tradition of Nigeria and Benin.

The Egúngún embody the presence of ancestors among the living. Considered a manifestation of the deceased within the community, they play a central role in the transmission of memory and traditions.

Taken in an improvised studio in southwestern Nigeria, these portraits remove the Egúngún from the tumult of ceremonies to isolate them in front of the lens. Stripped of their usual environment, these figures reveal the richness of their costumes, assemblages of fabrics, beads, shells, and ritual objects.

Between human presence and spiritual apparition, the series explores the visual power of these ancestral incarnations while preserving their share of mystery. For if the Egúngún allow themselves to be seen, they never allow themselves to be fully explained.

This exhibition is an opportunity to discover the work of Olympia de Maismont, a photojournalist and videographer based in West Africa. For more than fifteen years, she has documented the social, political, and cultural realities of Burkina Faso, Niger, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria, developing a sensitive and deeply human perspective.

With this series, she offers a more contemplative approach, where documentary dialogues with an assertive aesthetic research. She offers a rare look at a ritual heritage that is still largely unknown, on the border between the visible and the invisible.

This exhibition takes place as part of the PhotoSaintGermain festival. Organized in the heart of Paris, in the iconic Saint-Germain-des-Prés district, PhotoSaintGermain is an annual festival aimed at promoting photographic creation.

PhotoSaintGermain offers a free and open access tour of exhibitions in a selection of museums, cultural centers, galleries, and bookstores on the Left Bank. This tour highlights sharp and eclectic programming designed by associated galleries, as well as several original exhibitions and unpublished projects conceived and produced by the festival.