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Amandine Nana is passionate about art.  As she pursues master's degrees at the University of Paris 1 in art history, criticism, and conservation and at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (aka Sciences Po) in urban and territorial strategies, she is exercising this passion through the creation of an independent, nonprofit gallery called Transplantation.

Galerie Transplantation is dedicated to "the promotion of modern and contemporary diasporic practices through exhibitions, artistic residencies, programming, and publications."  Nana has curated its first show in the idyllic Chemin du Montparnasse, an historic hideaway that housed Marie Vassilief's famous Académie Russe and Cantine des Artistes in the early 20th century and years later, the Musée du Montparnasse.  Today, the cul-de-sac is home to the Villa Vassilief, which is a cultural establishment of the City of Paris.  France's Ministry of Culture has named it a Center of Contemporary Art of National Interest.

Chemin du Montparnasse - entrance
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Villa Vassilieff - signage
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Galerie Transplantation
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Villa Vassilieff's mission is to recon­nect with the Chemin's history by inviting artists and researchers to take a con­tem­po­rary look at this her­itage with the intent to "rewrite and diver­sify the his­tory of art."  Galerie Transplantation's first exhibition does just that.

Galerie Transplantation signage
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Nana has curated an intimate, 18-piece show called École Paris-BXL.  The name evokes the "École de Paris," the group of (largely non-French) artists that inhabited Montparnasse during the 20th century.  In the pamphlet that Nana produced to present the exhibition, she refers to specifically to African diaspora artists who were part of the École de Paris de l'après-guerre, a lesser known group of artists who lived in Montparnasse after World War II.  With École Paris-BXL, she brings together her research about this group with artworks representative of an emerging cosmopolitan exchange between Paris and Brussels. 

Part of this research is based on a review of archival materials from Le Musée Vivant (1936-1969), a French-language review of then-contemporary African and African diaspora artists that was published by Madeleine Rousseau. I was pleased to find an article about Beauford Delaney in the edition on display on a table to the right of the entrance!

Reproduction of cover page of Le Musée Vivant No. 23 24 - 1964
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École Paris-BXL consists of works by seven artists, all formally trained, who live and work in Paris and Brussels.  All are under the age of 30.  Paintings, works on paper, sculpture, and installations are represented. 

Tête 4
2020 Oil on printed paper
Mariama Conteh
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Untitled
Anthony Ngoya
2019  Acrylic-tinted fabric, tensioner, pipe, industrial hangers
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Untitled
Cédric Kouamé
2018 Sculpture in metal
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In addition, Galerie Transplantation is developing a Transplantation Library, which centers on the distribution of printed objects, consultation of archives, education regarding critical thinking, and access to a pan-African and global visual heritage.  English-language and French-language publications are available for consultation and purchase.

Transplantation Library
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Nana is a native of Cameroon who grew up in "the extreme north and south of Paris."  She and artist colleague Monika E. Kazi are laureates in the 2020 Prix Dauphine for Contemporary Art competition.*

École Paris-BXL is on display through September 26, 2020.  The exhibition is open Wednesday - Friday from 2 PM to 7 PM and on Saturday from 11 AM to 7 PM.

Galerie Transplantation
21, avenue du Maine
Espace Immanence, Ground Floor right
75015 Paris
Metro: Montparnasse-Bienvenüe (Lines 4, 6, 12, 13); Falguère (Line 12)

Galerie Transplantation - Welcome!
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*By focusing on the association between artist and curator, the Prix Dauphine aims to highlight the importance of the complementarity of the respective approaches of these two art professionals. Each artist / curator pair that enters the competition is asked to create an original exhibition proposal. Selections are made by a jury of experts from the art world. Five winning pairs are offered the opportunity to exhibit in a dedicated space at Université Paris-Dauphine and at the CROUS Art Gallery, rue des Beaux-Arts, in Paris.