Meet Rackel Messe a Bidias

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Rackel Messe a Bidias . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Rackel, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
I am feeding my creativity by connecting with people, understanding their perspectives of life and getting energized by the positive elements they have in them. On this regard, I particulalry seek the company of old people and children. Collaboration with other artists is an additional source of inspiration. Lastly, having a clear vision for my career and what I would like to achieve, sharing my own view of beauty and denouncing injustice, gives me a sense of direction that is benefitial to creativity.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am a Cameroonian visual and contemporary artist. I started drawing with chalks on my school slate at the age of seven. My uncle was doing sketches, and this really captured my attention.

While painting was a side activity for several years, I decided to make it a full-time career when I turned twenty-six. Expressing myself through art was a calling. In the context of Cameroon expressing oneself can prove risky, especially for human rights activists. Social inequalities are paramount. Merit or personal talent are often rendered useless in a society where you need to have a godfather from the system to even hope being someone. It is a context dominated by bribery and corruption.

In such an environment, my art is a personal way to build a free world and to express my views about the society I live, condemning what I despise and, also, expressing my love and my aspiration for peaceful tomorrows in the African continent. Through my painting, barriers fade away. In particular, I am capturing the multiple misfunctioning of the political elite, the social and gender inequalities this generates and the great suffering this causes for the poorest fringe of the Cameroonian society. For instance, my last painting “Police-ticks” denounces the behavior of politicians.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Building a career as a professional painter, in a country where most people focus on making ends meet, requires a lot of determination. In addition to the difficulties linked to the socio economic context, I faced different challenges that could have jeopardized my decision to live from my arts. In 2016, the outbreak of the armed conflict between anglophone separatists and the national army in the Southwest region forced me to flee. I found myself internally displaced, having to start my life from scratch, with no roof and as little as 20 dollars in my pocket. Three years ago, I had a vascular attack and spent two years at the hospital. I had to sell all my paintings, one after the other, to cover medical costs. As half of my body was paralyzed, resuming painting required a lot of efforts and discipline. My passion for art and the necessity to keep expressing myself visually were what allowed me to persist and, eventually, improve my skills and technique.

Because of the difficulty for artists to make a living out of their passion, there is a genuine competition among them. But this is not my perception of how things should be. I consider that such a competition will slow down the realization of our common cause in sending a message to the world, in bringing beauty into this society and this will also silence our call for a better future. Being selfish won’t allow us to go far. This belief has been a constant thread in my career. When I was an adolescent, I created Ziczo art school, where I benevolently taught drawing and painting to the children of my neighborhood. In Yaoundé, where I live since I have fled the conflict, I have been giving free lessons to children. I have also been a mentor for different artists, including my junior brothers who are now fully fledged artists. My brother Elangweh Sesse lives in Texas and has had increasing success in his arts. My other brother, Bidias Romaric, is also getting increased recognition.

My interest in what is happening in my society and throughout the world has very much impacted on the vision I am capturing n my painting, allowing me to remain a contemporary artist. I am always curious to observe what is happening around me and how politics affect people’s lives. My eye is not only turned towards the negative traits of the world I live in. I remain fascinated by the beauty of people, by the power of nature, by music and by art in all its forms.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
Visual arts are not well recognized in Cameroon and in the continent more generally. This greatly limits my possibility to exhibit my paintings. For instance, in Yaoundé, capital of Cameroon, there is no art gallery. There is also a lack of administrative structure that could support the organization of exhibitions. This combines with an atmosphere of competition among artists that I already spoke about. For these reasons, artists face challenges selling their paintings and, also, getting a fair price for the pieces they manage to sell.

This is the reason why I am trying to promote my art beyond the frontiers of the continent, currently collaborating with galleries in Europe. I would be eager having more collaboration with galleries, art fares, art schools, private brands, art collectors and curators from the USA.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Romaric Bidias Photo 1 and 2: Delphine Brun

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