Who are we?

The Iya Aco Foundation project was born from the idea of making the artistic creation of Benin more visible and widely circulated. The “Art of Benin” exhibition has been circulating internationally since 2023, showcasing a selection of works by major artists of high quality. The first presence of the Benin pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2024 is another reflection of the quality and intriguing positions that Beninese artists create through their works. As these exhibitions accelerate the reception of contemporary art from Benin worldwide, critical work and the circulation of additional information become necessary.

As a Beninese artist living in the Netherlands and an art historian working on the Black Atlantic, we are creating a platform here that will bring together biographical information on Beninese artists, critical texts, and a commented bibliography to facilitate access to information. We plan to work with international experts to offer a vision of the complexity of the artistic world in Benin, as well as to formulate critical and scientific approaches to the works. Through dialogue with the artists, online meetings, and calls for participation, we aim not only to increase the availability and visibility of information but also to bring together the scientific, critical, and public communities interested in Beninese Art in all its facets.

In focusing on the artistic activity of Benin and Beninese artists, one cannot stop at the country's borders. We, therefore, include Beninese artists in the diaspora and, where it makes sense, relations with other cultures, making tangible the dialogue and exchange that constantly enriches the field of art, which is, above all, a globally radiant contemporary art.

We are a non-profit foundation with the mission of creating historical knowledge about the art and contemporary artists of Benin. We are also interested in its diaspora in the Caribbean and beyond.

This platform inevitably drives us to promote the culture, education, and visual arts of the "Black Atlantic" zone in institutions where they are underrepresented. Our goal is to improve the artistic ecosystem by offering more diverse art history information for future talents, facilitating dialogue between artists and creative industry stakeholders, creating new opportunities, and fostering an inclusive rise of global contemporary art.

Our areas of expertise are the arts of the 20th and 21st centuries, broadly speaking, various artistic media such as painting, photography, video art, sculpture, installation, performance art, design, illustration, and drawing. Our platform includes digital libraries for our private collection.

Our committee of art historians gathers publications, biographical notes, and scientific texts to document and make the artists and their work accessible, thereby strengthening Beninese culture globally.

Inspired by the restitution of cultural property by the Beninese government in 2020, our project addresses a crucial need for free access to educational resources in art history for Beninese and diaspora artists, thereby stimulating artistic creation and offering an inclusive perspective of art history.