Myriam Mihindou (born in 1964 in Libreville, Gabon) is a Franco-Gabonese contemporary artist. She lives and works in Paris. [1]
Myriam Mihindou grew up in Gabon with a French mother and a Gabonese father, before going into exile in France in the late 1980s. After a degree in architecture, she joined the school of fine arts in Bordeaux. Suffering from aphasia, a disorder of spoken and written language, she was at the time looking for a means of expression. Working initially on sculpture and forging, Joseph Beuys and Ana Mendieta encouraged her to direct her plastic exploration in nature through ritualized actions with organic materials (earth, water, sun, paraffin, kaolin and tea). She graduated in 1993, developing a multidisciplinary plastic language, working as well in photography as in performance, video, drawing and sculpture. Her experience of travelling many countries including from Gabon to Reunion Island, from Egypt to Morocco, her works was nourished by these geographical and cultural encounters. Highly autobiographical, her creative processes probes memory, identity, the social, political and sexual body themes. [1] [2] [3]
Gabon, officially the Gabonese Republic, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo on the east and south, and the Gulf of Guinea to the west. It has an area of nearly 270,000 square kilometres (100,000 sq mi) and its population is estimated at 2.3 million people. There are coastal plains, mountains, and a savanna in the east.
Little is known of the history of Gabon prior to European contact. Bantu migrants settled the area beginning in the 14th century. Portuguese explorers and traders arrived in the area in the late 15th century. The coast subsequently became a center of the transatlantic slave trade with European slave traders arriving to the region in the 16th century. In 1839 and 1841, France established a protectorate over the coast. In 1849, captives released from a captured slave ship founded Libreville. In 1862–1887, France expanded its control including the interior of the state, and took full sovereignty. In 1910 Gabon became part of French Equatorial Africa and in 1960, Gabon became independent.
El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba was a Gabonese politician who was the second President of Gabon for 42 years, from 1967 until his death in 2009. Omar Bongo was promoted to key positions as a young official under Gabon's first President Léon M'ba in the 1960s, before being elected Vice-President in his own right in 1966. In 1967, he succeeded M'ba to become the second Gabon President, upon the latter's death.
Jean Ping is a Gabonese diplomat and politician who served as Chair of the African Union Commission from 2008 to 2012. Born to a Chinese father and Gabonese mother, he is the first individual of Chinese descent to lead the executive branch of the African Union.
Gabon's music includes several folk styles and pop. Gabonese pop artist Patience Dabany, who now lives in the US, produces albums recorded in Los Angeles with a distinctively Gabonese element; they are popular throughout Francophone Africa. Other musicians include guitarists Georges Oyendze, La Rose Mbadou and Sylvain Avara, and the singer Oliver N'Goma. Imported rock and hip hop from the US and UK are popular in Gabon, as are rumba, makossa and soukous.
French is the official language in Gabon, however 32% of the people speak Fang as a mother tongue. French is the medium of instruction. Before World War II very few Gabonese learned French, nearly all of them working in either business or government administration. After the war, France worked for universal primary education in Gabon, and by the 1960-61 census, 47% of the Gabonese over the age of 14 spoke some French, while 13% were literate in the language. By the 1990s, the literacy rate had risen to about 60%.
Patience Marie Josephine Kama Dabany, also known by the names Marie Joséphine Kama and Josephine Bongo, is a Gabonese singer and musician. Dabany served as the First Lady of Gabon from 1967 to 1987. For nearly 30 years she was married to Omar Bongo Ondimba, who was President of Gabon from 1967 to 2009. After their divorce, she successfully pursued a career in music. She is the mother of the current President of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba.
Georgette Koko is a Gabonese politician who served in the government of Gabon as Deputy Prime Minister for the Environment from January 2006 to October 2009. She has been President of the Economic and Social Council since 2016.
Faustin Boukoubi is a Gabonese politician who currently serves as the Speaker of Gabonese National Assembly Since 11 January 2019 and has been the Secretary-General of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) since 2008. He previously served in the government of Gabon as Minister of Public Health from 1997 to 2004 and as Minister of Agriculture from 2004 to 2008.
The Musée Lambinet is a municipal museum in Versailles telling the history of the town. Since 1932, it has been housed in the hôtel Lambinet, a hôtel particulier designed by Élie Blanchard, built in the second half of the 18th century by a part of the Clagny lake and left to the town of Versailles by the heirs of Victor Lambinet in 1929. It has been classed as a monument historique since 1944. Its garden façade has a sculpted pediment representing an allegorical figure of architecture.
Hadiza Aliyu(listen), also known as Hadiza Gabon, is a Nigerian professional actress and filmmaker who acts in both Hausa and English movies. Hadiza serves as an ambassador for MTN Nigeria and Indomie noodles company. Hadiza was named best actress at 2013 Best of Nollywood Awards. She has also won the 2nd Kannywood/MTN Awards in the year 2014. She presently serves as the founder of HAG Foundation.
Gabon competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's tenth appearance at the Olympics.
Diana Widmaier Picasso is a French art historian specialized in modern art, living in Paris.
Lucie Milebou Aubusson also known as Lucie Mboussou is a Gabonese ophthalmologist and politician who has been President of the Senate since 27 February 2015.
The National Gendarmerie of Gabon is the national police force of Gabon responsible for law enforcement in Gabon. It is under the direct command of the President of Gabon. The Gendarmerie is also in charge of the Gabonese Republican Guard.
Pauline Mvele is an actress, director and screenwriter from Burkina Faso. Mvele is known for producing documentaries, and currently lives in Gabon. Her documentaries focus on issues such as HIV/AIDS in Africa, and the mistreatment of widows and prisoners in Gabon. In 2014 her film won best film at the Burundi Film Festival.
Seba Charmelle Scholastique known as SeBa is a Gabonese singer. She sings in the Nzebi language, but it is her use of Italian that gained her a knighthood. She has published several albums since her first in 2006.
Amina Benbouchta, a Moroccan artist educated in Canada and Paris, is recognized internationally for her contemporary artworks that concentrate on social issues regarding gender politics. Early in her career she headed the fashion and culture magazine Les Aligés. She was also part of the Collectif 212 group of artists and curators who dedicated themselves to supporting emerging contemporary art in Morocco.
Gabonese nationality law is regulated by the Constitution of Gabon, as amended; the Gabonese Nationality Code, and its revisions; and various international agreements to which the country is a signatory. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of Gabon. The legal means to acquire nationality, formal legal membership in a nation, differ from the domestic relationship of rights and obligations between a national and the nation, known as citizenship. Nationality describes the relationship of an individual to the state under international law, whereas citizenship is the domestic relationship of an individual within the nation. Gabonese nationality is typically obtained under the principle of jus soli, i.e. by birth in Gabon, or of jus sanguinis, born to parents with Gabonese nationality. It can be granted to persons with an affiliation to the country, or to a permanent resident who has lived in the country for a given period of time through naturalization.
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