FINAB

From 14/02/2023 To 19/02/2023

NB –  Viewing rooms of the FInAB collection still open till 31-03-2023z

OpenArtExchange  is looking back on a great first bi-annual Festival International des Arts du Benin (FInAB), a grand festival celebrating art across all disciplines in the three main cultural cities Cotonou, Ouidah and Porto Novo. It was an important next step for cultural life in Benin to make, following the successful grand national overview exhibition “Benin Art Yesterday and Today” at the presidential palace late last year to showcase the 26 ancient Dahomey artefacts returned by France in combination with contemporary art works of 34 selected Beninese artists.     

For the first time in history, the Beninese government supported the organization of this grand bi-annual Festival International des Arts du Benin (FInAB), recognizing the importance of arts and culture for the economic future of Benin. It was a grand festival with an extensive program across all artistic disciplines, taking place in the three main cultural cities of Benin: Cotonou, Ouidah and Porto Novo. From major exhibitions showcasing mastodonts like Fadairo and Konaté or smaller ones at one of the independent art spaces or galleries, fashion shows, concerts, theatre shows, dance or other types of performances, for 6 days all of cultural Benin showed its colors. 

One of the highlights of the festival was the TokP'Art fair, hosted in tents at the beachside festival terrain in Cotonou from 14-19 february, where, among other things, a separate section of booths showcased the latest contemporary art of Beninese artists. It was an exciting and inspiring adventure for OpenArtExchange as the only international gallery on the ground, to showcase 7 of our Beninese plastic artists at 5 booths at the FInAB Tokp’Art fair. We received some great 

Though the festival and Tokp’Art fair at Fidjrossè beach are over by now (below some photo impressions), you can still visit our FInAB collection in a viewing room on Kooness.com till 31 March 2023 and order some great art works against special FInAB prices based on direct shipping from Benin. Have a look at the link below and buy directly via Kooness buy or make offer options:  

https://www.kooness.com/exhibitions/finab

You will find a varied Beninese contemporary art collection with paintings, sculptures and mixed media works in different sizes from some well-recognised artists as well as some emerging young talents, notably Sanda Amadou, Benjamin Deguenon, Sébastien Boko, MidY, Marcel Kpoho, Syl Loko and Mr Fouzy.