Author.
A selection of interviews and commissions I recently wrote for French and International art magazines, galleries and artists.
Click on images to be redirected to texts.
Contemporary And (C&), DISEGNO Journal of Design, DIPTYK Magazine, Galerie Perrotin Paris & Dubai, ARTSKOP34.37, 193 Gallery, NELA Magazine, Black Square, AWARE Magazine, Museo Ettore Fico, The Art Momentum, Novembre Global, Galerie Cécile Fakhoury, Fondation H…
Traversées Africaines 2025
Curatorial essay introducing the official catalogue.
In May 2025, I took part in the 5th edition of Traversées Africaines as a curator, writer, and jury member. This annual parcours, organized by the NGO Pour l’Art Pour l’Afrique, celebrates contemporary African and Afro-descendant art scenes.
Running from May 13 to June 1, Traversées Africaines 2025 brought together 24 venues across Paris and its inner suburbs—galleries, museums, and art centers—united in showcasing a rich diversity of artists, aesthetics, and narratives.
I was honored to contribute the curatorial essay for this year’s edition, published in the official catalogue. The text was inspired by the life and work of Ivorian-Lebanese poet Maurice Koné, particularly his 1979 collection L’Argile du rêve.
As part of my involvement, I also interviewed Traversées Africaines 2025 Prize laureate Alex Ayivi for Artskop34.37 magazine, and I will be speaking at an upcoming round-table hosted by the Institut Français in Paris.
This edition was held in partnership with the Mairie de Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, Région Île-de-France, Institut Français, and the Ambassade de France au Cameroun.
Prix Traversées Africaines 2025
Interview “TogoTopie - Rencontre avec Alex Ayivi”
In a 2025 interview I conducted for magazine Artskop3437, French-Togolese artist Alex Ayivi delves into his project "60 ans c’est trop", a fictional yet politically resonant narrative envisioning Togo’s future through the eyes of journalist Kossi Sossou, who stands in defiance of President Faure Gnassingbé. Through silkscreen prints on cardboard—materials evocative of grassroots protest—Alex captures the immediacy of political dissent, layering his work with visual elements inspired by the relentless rhythm of news media. The project confronts themes of dictatorship, resistance, and the potent role of visual storytelling in social movements.
Alex also presents the Monnaie Unique Africaine (MUA), a speculative pan-African currency that features iconic African leaders, inviting reflection on post-colonial power structures and shared continental futures. As the dialogue evolves, Alex reflects on a more introspective body of work begun in 2020: a series of portraits depicting his family members with eyes closed. These meditative pieces evoke stillness, dignity, and inner life, exploring identity and the diasporic experience in contemporary French society.
Now in 2025—after a trajectory of residencies, exhibitions, and accolades—Alex is engaged in creating what he describes as a “metaphysical” painting and installation.
This interview was conducted shortly after Alex Ayivi received the Traversées Africaines 2024 Prize, which I had the honor of juroring. The accompanying exhibition is on view at Galerie Mariton in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, from May 13 to June 1, 2025.
FEMMES, Pharrell x Perrotin Paris
Curatorial text of the group show FEMMES at Perrotin Paris
“Curated by Pharrell Williams and hosted by Emmanuel Perrotin’s Parisian gallery, the exhibition FEMMES builds on and expands from their past common endeavors. It follows the success and focus of the 2014 group show GIRL at Perrotin Paris, inspired by Pharrell’s eponymous hit album. As Black women are important figures of Williams’ personal inspiration, their kaleidoscopic representation is the core matrix of FEMMES, with at its foundation, the work of 39 artists of African descent across generations.”
I was honored to contribute to this project by writing the curatorial exhibition text and joined Pharrell Williams and Emmanuel Perrotin for a conversation at the gallery on March 19. The text is featured on Perrotin’s website and was printed on the gallery’s walls and a leaflet distributed at the gallery.
I was featured on Artnet, Numéro Magazine, The Art Newspaper France, Say Who, France Info, Artnet, Art Africa Magazine, Beaux-Arts Magazine, Grazia France, FAD Magazine, Galleriesnow as well as other pages, journals and magazines. We also shot a walkthrough video of the exhibition for the gallery’s socials.
It was also a joy being able to welcome Aya Nakamura at the gallery on opening night, as well as hosting President Patrice Talon of Benin and Benin Ambassador in France Corinne Amori Brunet for a private visit.
FEMMES was on view at Perrotin Paris from March 20 to April 19, 2025, and became one of the most visited exhibitions in the gallery’s history.
193 Gallery Venice & Paris
Curatorial residency, exhibition text and publication : Modou Dieng Yacine - Black Venezia. De l’Atlantique à la Méditerranée noire.
Founded in 2018, the 193 Gallery, based in Paris, Saint-Tropez and Venice, aims to offer a global tour of contemporary art and to showcase the diversity of art scenes worldwide, with a particular focus on Southern scenes (Caribbean, Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia).
From July 19 to August 8, 2024, Modou Dieng Yacine was invited in residency by the 193 Gallery in Venice, to examine how Venetian architecture, decorative arts, and painting from the 15th to 18th centuries unveil the presence of Black individuals, many of whom were enslaved, in the merchant city. During this period, Modou produced over twenty artworks. I joined him for the last week of his residency.
Residency diary published in French and English in limited edition and in .pdf (see below).
The exhibition Black Venezia. De l’Atlantique à la Méditerranée noire. was on view at the 193 Gallery in Paris from September 14 to November 16, 2024.
In May 2025, selected works from Black Venezia were exhibited at the 193 Gallery in Venice as part of Bricks and Grids, a show curated by Miriam Bettin. In her curatorial essay, she references my own writing.
mat3amclub
Carte blanche: Interview Cindy Bannani, De Grenoble à Tanger.
“This dialogue between artist Cindy Bannani and author Louise Thurin discuss the genesis of the Œ workshop in Montreuil, the details of Cindy's upcoming project in Tangier, and her research on the 1983 March for Equality and Against Racism, particularly through the lens of the difficulty of accessing archives.”
mat3amclub is a Paris-based curatorial, writing, and reflection space focused on Mahgreb and Mashreq diasporic artistic practices in France.
Published in French on mat3amclub on June 19, 2024.
MEF – Museo Ettore Fico
Curatorial essay for Elladj Lincy Deloumeaux’s Afrika Now exhibition.
From 8 March to 30 June 2024: Solo exhibition by Elladj Lincy Deloumeaux, presented as part of MEF – Museo Ettore Fico’s Afrika Now—a broader program that also featured exhibitions by Bouvy Enkobo, Victor Fotso Nyie, Salifou Lindou, and James Mishio. All works were shown for the first time in an Italian museum.
To accompany the exhibition, five individual monographic volumes—one for each artist—were published and presented as a box set.
Thanks to my longstanding appreciation for Elladj Lincy Deloumeaux's work and our previous collaborations, I was honored to contribute an essay to his volume.
The publication is available in English, French, and Italian.
DISEGNO magazine
Photo-reportage on Bukinabè designer Hamed Bransonka-bra Ouattara
Tangible Action, a photo reportage by Soum Eveline Bonkoungou and I, was featured in Disegno #37 and published online on August 15, 2024.
“Louise Thurin visits Hamed Bransonka-bra Ouattara’s studio in Ouagadougou where he makes furniture out of scrap material, such as discarded oil drums and salvaged wood.”
Disegno is a London-based journal publishing print titles four times a year devoted to long-form design writing & photography.
Published in English on Disegno Spring 2024 issue.
Recent work
I am grateful that the article on the 3rd Biennale Internationale de Sculpture de Ouagadougou (BISO) – Le Feu des origines is one of the most-read articles in 2023 on magazine ContemporaryAnd (C&).
Published in English on December 14th 2023.
BLACK SQUARE magazine
Interview of Shivay la Multiple.
For this new feature with Black Square, I interviewed up-and-coming French artist Shivay la Multiple.
She shared the genesis of her main project, À la Recherche du fruit ligneux, tackling digital art, concepts of fluviality, opacity and marronnage.
Published in French on September 20th 2023.
BLACK SQUARE magazine
Curated coffee table books selection.
I am now a contributor to online magazine Black Square. Our first collaboration - an article focusing on the Harlem Renaissance featuring a curated choice of editions and coffee table books - inaugurated the segment “BLK Library”.
Published in French on June 3rd 2023.
Fondation H
I had the great honor to have been asked by the first Malagasy contemporary art foundation, Fondation H to write the text accompanying Confluence, an exhibition of works by Franco-caribbean artist, Johanna Mirabel at their Parisian space in May-June 2023.
We took time to converse on our common Guyanese heritage, tembé art, Édouard Glissant’s poetry and other topics.
Published in French on the artist & Fondation H websites. The text was also printed and distributed in a booklet.
Perrotin Dubaï
Following our 2020 and 2022 collaborations, Guadeloupean artist Elladj Lincy Deloumeaux asked me to write the text for his first solo show, Souvenirs entrelacés, with Galerie Perrotin in Dubai in May-June 2023.
Published in English and in French on Galerie Perrotin’s website.
Contemporary And (C&)
Following the participation of Moroccan cultural space Le 18, Marrakech at documenta 15, I met up with its co-founder, photographer Laila Hida for an interview. She notably shared her views on the future of the city’s and country’s artistic ecosystems.
Published in French and English in May 2023 in magazine Contemporary And (C&).
The Art Momentum
Being kindly invited by Maroc Premium Foundation to participate as an author to the Biennale internationale de Casablanca (BIC), I chose to focus on initiating an in-depth dialogue with Maroccan artist Khadija Tnana surrounding her installation Tata M’Barka, tackling domestic slavery in her own family and home country.
Published in French in December 2022 in The Art Momentum
Contemporary And (C&)
Following the announcement of Biennale Internationale de Sculpture de Ouagadougou’s third edition, I interviewed its co-founder, Burkinabese photographer Nyaba Léon Ouédraogo for magazine Contemporary And (C&).
Published in French and English in August 2022.
Galerie Cécile Fakhoury
I had the great honor to have been asked by Guadeloupean artist Elladj Lincy Deloumeaux to write the curation text of his latest exhibition at Galerie Cécile Fakhoury - Paris in March - April 2022.
The text is featured on their website and was printed on a leaflet + distributed at the gallery. It was also featured in a video by the artist and quoted in a JeuneAfrique article.
In March 2024, this text was translated and published in Italian for "Afrika Now," a comprehensive program of five simultaneous solo exhibitions by artists of African descent at MEF - Ettore Fico Museum in Turin, Italy.