Morocco-based South Cameroonian visual artist Salvador Tomnyuy, defies the persistence with which the world around him tries to turn his humanity and blackness into a vessel of pain and trauma. Salvador has tasted violence and conflict in a land that precariously questions the existence of dark-skinned Africans. Like a lifeline, his art gives him the space to channel that which resides in him, spit out the aversion directed to him and cleanse his soul. Salvador showed his work in Nairobi at the Leaking Spirits exhibition in April 2022 – Curated by Thadde Tewa of TewasArt Gallery, Nairobi. Being vulnerably honest with me, he paints the essence of his work and how he uses it as a voice of protest against the dehumanization of black bodies.
MM: How did your work end up on the Leaking Spirits exhibition?
ST: The world is digitalized right now, and you have to know what you want and figure out how to go for it. I saw Tewa’s work on Instagram and read about him. And I was intrigued when I saw that he is a young guy who takes art seriously and makes it a priority (not just to make a living from it but) to promote African artists. What motivated me to participate in Leaking Spirits is the way he sees art and how he is trying to be inclusive while giving people an opportunity to access art. So, we met on Instagram and began to speak. He told me about the exhibition, and I decided to come on board to showcase my work.
MM: Your art arrived unaccompanied. Why didn’t you come to the exhibition?
ST: I wanted to come but time wouldn’t allow me. Travel arrangements would have been financially costly, but I know the art is more important and so that wouldn’t have been a problem. I would have come to the exhibition if time hadn’t been limited. I decided to send my art and follow the exhibition’s momentum closely online. I will plan to come for a solo show in future. I did an online search on the Nairobi art community, and I saw it is very vibrant.
MM: You chose the Nightwalkers series for Leaking Spirits. Why did you feel it was fitting for this theme?
ST: I initially did the Nightwalkers series for a past exhibition in Casablanca. And I felt it suitable for Leaking Spirits because it’s a free-will of expression. It was about people who can’t travel around or go to places freely due to a limitation on their movement by border politics surrounding immigration. It is related to my experiences and many other people’s. I’m considered an immigrant here in Morocco and with the systemic or political discrimination issues, you are seen as an outsider who is illegally in the country. Nightwalkers was me thinking of these ambitions you have of travelling and then you are blocked over simple issues that lead to frustrations. And when people are frustrated, they can use the back door to access these places or even attempt to make subtle overnight movements, hence the idea of Nightwalkers. What you see in that series is the result of rejection; when you are limited by all the lines which represent borders and systems that push you out. So, night walking then becomes a sort of rebellion to satisfy the need for freedom of this movement. Personally, I have been denied entry to Europe even with the right documents. And this happens all the time to many people from this continent.
MM: In essence, and as you mentioned previously, the Nightwalkers series was an outlet for you; a way to release certain memories and process personal experiences in relation to these frustrations.
ST: Exactly. When you have been through a lot of violence in a general way, you reach a certain level in life where these memories come back. You can’t run away from certain things that keep resurfacing and remind you of the pain. For me, when these memories reappear, I ask myself how I can deal with them. When they all come together like that, they can be transformed into something else. With art, I can master and express my memories, of which if I don’t, they can be transformed into something else that isn’t safe. So, this is how I vent. When I start painting, I do it without worrying about the results. That’s why I’m not good at doing commissions.
MM: Is that because you want to maintain autonomy of the direction your creativity takes, unlike commissions which demand an adherence to the specifics of a client?
ST: Yes. A lot of people ask me for commissions, but I don’t always do them. I would mostly feel like I’m doing it for somebody else and as a free-minded self-taught artist, I won’t be satisfied. Even if I commit to one, I would feel confined. I don’t take commissions a lot but when I do, I convince people to turn the commission around into creating something that would best suit my artistic practice. It’s always important to leave the choice and freedom to create to the artist.
When Tewa approached me, I wanted to be part of the show on condition that I didn’t have to produce work that’s specifically for it. The day I will start to create in accordance with certain criteria, then I will lose my drive. Being an artist in a world where I’m considered an immigrant and battled between acceptance and rejection, I have to make sure I’m putting my needs first. I’m a seasonal artist and that means I don’t paint all the time. I can go for months without painting. I dive into serious creation when I’m really angry and feeling overwhelmed.
Painting is a way for me to escape the chaos in the world around me. It’s the only opportunity for me to go deep inside and bring out all these things that I cannot film or write. It’s beautiful and it’s interesting to think that in this moment of expressing yourself in art, you could also be satisfying somebody else when they see your art and connect to it. The possibility of someone connecting to your art in their own way is magical and a special gift. The consciousness to realize how art can transform our wellness is quite something.
MM: Every piece of the Nightwalkers series is represented by various tumbling figures that might look similar but a keen look at each one shows how distinctive they are. It’s fascinating that you chose to animate your feelings and experiences through those creatures.
ST: Those creatures are a representation of the people I meet every day. Some of them are upside down; there are houses and animals of different shapes and they appear upside down too. This portrays the chaos in the world. Each piece represents every day mayhem where you will meet somebody who looks beautiful in the moment, but then they can also flip. Some of the creatures are standing, others are in motion or surrendering and some have spears. It’s an everyday fight. The chaos that never seems to end but cycle around us.
It’s a disorderly world yet also comfortable in some ways and when you observe closely, everything is in constant motion. It’s like the chaos transforms the people; everybody is always chasing something and at times with no satisfaction, kindness is forgotten. Yet they force us to analyze, understand, adapt and overcome.
MM: Besides the Nightwalkers series, what other body of work have you created to express the prejudice you experience?
ST: I did a series of work called Body Language where I observed how people react to me. I would look at their body movement and tell whether they were really interested in what I had to say. And most of the people I interacted with, especially White and Arabs, were very skeptical and dismissive of me. Some of them would only talk to me when they saw their friends conversing with me or because we were at an event and everyone was talking to me. In this series, I was trying to express people’s behaviour towards me through art.
MM: And what is your go-to media for creating?
ST: I create using various materials. Whatever I decide to make can be on any medium. I have different ways of working and I also do recycling and creating awareness on climate change as well. I recycle certain materials that I use and try to give them a second life. I sometimes do performances as well. You can call me a multidisciplinary visual artist.
MM: Looking at your work, is there a particular project you would say has been your best?
ST: This is a tricky question. I can’t specifically tell because I’ve done a lot of projects and I have participated in more with other artists both in Africa and abroad. But I can say that everything has been a work in progress. Once you think this is the best project you’ve participated in or done so far, you get a surprise in your next project, and it blows your mind equally. So, I think anything that ends well opens a new way for you to experience greater aspects. I consider myself a baby in art because I’m still very young in this domain and I look forward to doing more.
MM: You said you are a seasonal artist, so, are you creating anything at the moment?
ST: I’m currently working on a project called Struggling Between Acceptance and Rejection. It’s inspired by the recent happenings here in Tangier, a Moroccan city known for its rich touristic heritage and immigration issues. I wanted to document the recent violence we have been facing from the local authorities here. As I mentioned, I often turn to my art in times of turbulence to seek peace and tranquility within myself. The work I’m currently producing is by use of a technique called pointillism, which has different perspectives and elements.
In this work, I’m expressing the depression we confront on a daily basis as Black people here as a result of being targeted by local authorities. Each painting produced is covered with lots of dots and each represents thousands of problems we are facing as black folk. I see it mostly as a fight for acceptance or rejection because I’m in between; I’m either accepted or rejected.
Art has been a strong tool for me to express and liberate myself and as an artist, I get to participate in denouncing injustices by sending out a message through my work. I’m yet to determine how many series of work I will make for this particular project, but for as long as I’m being inspired, I will keep producing them.
MM: What topical realms would you say the entirety of your work covers?
ST: My work is mostly based on human emotion. I try to express how I feel and see things and share with people around me without forcefully seeking ways to please them. I want people to see my art and appreciate it as it is. In general, my art is about self-satisfaction, sharing and creating social awareness in different ways and sparking conversations.
I use my art to create conversations with people from all walks of life. I do a lot of workshops and interact with plenty of people. I like to create a different way of thinking in relation to what we (the Black community here) are exposed to or go through. It’s a great opportunity for me to question how others see Black people and show that we are human and equal.
It’s very important for me to create art about social inclusion and all the things that are neglected about our humanity here in Morocco and the rest of the world. It’s so absurd that we are called immigrants here while White people are referred to as expatriates. The language around our description is very discriminatory.
MM: Is art your sole source of income as much as it’s your place to vent?
ST: This is my career and I live 100 percent from my art. I have a company called Art is Freedom, which manages my art. It is possible to live on art, especially here in Africa. We are in an era where you have to turn your passion into a business. It will make you love what you do even more and create a lot of happiness. Some people are unhappy because they are stuck in careers they don’t like. They have been forced to do it for certain reasons and some don’t want to give up the comfort zone they are living in.
MM: You were initially on a journey to become a professional boxer. How did you then redirect your plans to establish yourself as a thriving visual artist?
ST: I wanted to become a boxer but that did not work and so I decided to travel outside of my home country, Cameroon. I got into art a few months into my stay in Morocco, after meeting a group of artists who were in an artistic residency in Casablanca.
I miraculously went into art, if I may put it this way. I never had an idea about visual art in the past and today, I’m a full-time multidisciplinary artist after discovering my hidden talent. A talent that has transformed my life. It wasn’t easy to fully accept the transformation, but I have managed to master it and make it a way of life through daily practicing. Because art Is freedom for me, I have developed a certain way of thinking without worrying about what other people may say or think of me.
MM: What are your thoughts on the current African art economy?
ST: I’m not an art specialist or an economist but looking at the African art economy, I will say we are moving towards changing and enhancing it. I think those who were active in this field in the past in the 70s, 80s and 90s will say they did their best, but it wasn’t enough. The current generation of artists and future ones wouldn’t be here trying to create visibility and international art market standards that suit African artists.
Our art economy is still very weak due to the lack of a strong community of African collectors. For it to grow, media outlets of all forms must create stronger visibility for our artists, the art promoters and the African art collectors. African governments must recognize the importance of visual arts by supporting artists. If valued as it deserves, art has the power to boost the African economy. Very few people in the continent collect art and some of these people include Westerners that live here. Therefore, the art economy in Africa is still largely dependent on Western art collectors and Western art institutions. This needs to change.
MM: Do you have any plans of absorbing other artists into your company, Art is Freedom, under your management?
ST: I created Art Is Freedom SARL AU two years ago to specialize in producing and promoting my art. I’m still figuring out how to create a platform that would work for young artists like me. Creating a platform that would manage other artists requires a lot of investment and a strong managing team with art marketing knowledge and networking skills. One of the objectives of my company is to promote and collaborate with artists and I’m looking forward to hearing from several artists who can become business partners. When the pandemic comes to an end, I will be able to see what direction to take. I also hope to familiarize myself with the art community in Kenya, particularly in Nairobi.