In the capital city of Cameroon, Yaounde comes a painter and sculptor who makes intriguing art sculptures out of garbage. The self-taught artist, Joseph Francis Sumegne displays his art exhibition, “La Citadelle des anciens” which translates to ‘The Citadel of the Elders.’

The sculpture is a half-man, half-animal made from objects of all kinds and its end product is a stunning display of extraterrestrial artwork.

A visitor at the exhibition asserts that “the artist uses banal materials to sublimate them and when you look at them, you are really amazed by the details, and it also contributes to preserving the environment.”

The artist, Joseph Francis sees waste in a different light as the raw materials for his art sculpture comes from garbage dumps. His use of trash for sculpting protects the environment. According to Francis, “It is not the rubbish, nor the salvaged material, it is the utensils of creation”. 

His “9 Notables” collection of enormous mannequins, which started in 1988, is the centerpiece of his art. They oppose contemporary civilization and are arranged here to resemble a conference of dignitaries from the traditional Bamilékés societies of West Cameroon.

Francis explains “It’s to draw attention to the rupture between the two societies. To enable man to assess which of the two societies is favorable to his happiness, the old one and the new one that manages us today”.

It is the life’s labor of the sculptor. And you must travel to Yaoundé’s 6th arrondissement to find the birthplace of his creative output. SUMEGNE describes himself as a creator of the “Jala’a” school of thought, which is concerned with exceeding oneself. He refers to the mediatory as the workshop where he started his work (the nine notables).

According to him, it is here that the 9 Notables were born, because at the time i was working on an experiment with motor oil cans, and this experiment lead me into a direction of research that resulted in what today we call the Notables”. 

The work of this self-taught artist has already been displayed in the Netherlands, Dak’art Biennial in Senegal, and Osaka, Japan.