Roméo Mivekannin

A conversation with Béninois artist Roméo Mivekannin, who works primarily in painting and installation. Roméo’s practice centres on marginalised Black figures in canonical European paintings, which he reimagines with his own self-portrait. His first exhibition in Italy, Black Mirror, at Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia is on until the 27th of July. It features a new series of paintings on black velvet, marking a new chapter in his practice. In this episode, Alayo and Roméo discuss subjects including Italian cinema, the choreography of Pina Bausch, the universality of dance and his grandmother’s stories of European colonial injustice in Africa.This special season focuses on the themes which are at the heart of Alayo’s upcoming book, Reframing Blackness: What’s Black About History of Art?, which unpacks the relationship between Blackness and “Western” art history through the lenses of: Museums, the curriculum, feminist art movements, muses and exhibitions. In this season Alayo will speak to artists who re-think, reposition and reframe Blackness and Black figures in this context. Pre-Order Reframing Blackness here.Keep up with us:Roméo Mivekannin: @romeomivekanninAlayo Akinkugbe: @ablackhistoryofart @alayoakinkugbe