Description
Lylly Houngnihin and the Utopia of Reinventing Narratives and Aesthetics Shaped by the Black Atlantic
Lylly Houngnihin is a distinctive figure specializing in the engineering of public policies in cultural and creative industries and the mobility of artists and artworks across Africa and its diasporas. Her professional trajectory, founded on an interdisciplinary and transcontinental approach, interrogates the dynamics of creation, transmission, and reappropriation of artistic narratives and alternative storytelling in postcolonial contexts.
A Curator at the Intersection of Histories and Spaces
As co-curator of the Forum Nosso Futuro de Bahia, she contributes to the development of critical reflection on the interactions between Africa and Brazil, drawing on a shared imaginary, cultural legacies, and heritage charged with common interests, shaped by diasporic circulations and long-standing resistances across the Black Atlantic. Scheduled as the closing event of the France-Brazil Season, this forum aspires to redefine cooperation paradigms between Latin America and Africa by mobilizing ancestral knowledge and contemporary practices.
Her role as co-commissioner of the Biennale Ouidah Arts et Cultures Vodun reflects her commitment to bringing African spiritualities to the forefront and exploring their resonance in contemporary artistic creation. Through this initiative, she actively contributes to a rewriting of Vodun narratives, integrating them into a dynamic of institutional legitimization and international dissemination.
As the artistic director of the eco-conscious brand @AshuTheQuietLuxury, she explores the intersections between textile heritage, high-quality craftsmanship, and environmental issues, while engaging in a redefinition of luxury aesthetics through an approach rooted in African materialities and artistic currents.
International Expertise in Cultural Policies and Contemporary Creation
Her work extends beyond curatorial practice. As an expert consultant, she has contributed to major cultural initiatives in Haiti, Mali, and Nigeria, fostering the development of cultural and creative industries through integrated approaches. Her expertise revolves around emerging economic models, governance of intangible heritage, and cultural cooperation policies.
Her invitation as an art historian to the Biennale Expression Décoloniale in Nantes confirms the recognition of her critical thought in contemporary debates on the decolonization of art and cultural institutions. Through her research and initiatives, she questions the place of African and Afro-diasporic narratives within cultural institutions, while proposing epistemic alternatives based on the plurality of voices and memories.
A Key Figure in Transcontinental Cultural Cooperation
As executive director of Laboratorio Arts Contemporains, she has been leading since 2013 a cultural innovation platform that fosters networking among artistic and cultural stakeholders across Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, and Latin America. By mobilizing a critical and forward-thinking approach, she works toward building a resilient cultural ecosystem capable of integrating the challenges of heritage conservation, transmission, and the circulation of artworks and knowledge.
Through her trajectory, Lylly Houngnihin embodies a curatorial and theoretical vision that seeks to reexamine power relations in the art world, redefine spaces of legitimacy, and anchor African and diasporic artistic productions within a global and critically reassessed dimension.
