IVO in Tanzania
20.09.2022 > 4.10.2022
By Didier Guillon
IVO in Tanzania
Ivo. The infinite journey of a free gorilla
© Sebastian Nidlich – Ivo the Gorilla in Berlin Zoo
Ivo, a name for an icon. The Berlin Zoo icon, massive and majestic gorilla, which has been both a source of wonder and emotion for Valentine, Didier Guillon’s youngest daughter. From this Berlin visit was born the wish of a young girl to see the elegant animal freed from its captivity. The desire of a father to imagine the impossible and to emancipate it beyond all cages and barriers.
Ivo, a name for an icon. Fondation Valmont’s icon among others, colorful and happy gorilla, artistic metamorphosis in search of an infinite journey and a freedom symbol. A gorilla reinterpreted by Didier Guillon the artist, who has never stopped to reinvent it, to offer it new supports and horizons, to adorn it with new clothes.
After Morocco and South Africa, Ivo continues his journey in Tanzania with a travelling exhibition, making a stopover in Seoul after Europe. Exhibited at the Hyundai Mokdong in Seoul, in an exceptional setting, from September 20th to October 4th, 2022, Ivo will continue to fascinate freedom and creativity lovers.
Ivo in Tanzania, Serigraphy 6, 120×80 cm
Location
7th floor of the Hyundai
Mokdong department store
7F, Glasshaus – Seoul
South Korea
Childfound
Fondation Valmont, Didier Guillon and Ivo in Tanzania Seoul support ChildFund Korea
A charity on behalf of children happiness
Ivo in Tanzania and the Hyundai Mokdong: an obvious choice
If ever there was an appropriate place for Ivo’s world in Tanzania in Seoul, it is the Hyundai Mokdong. A must-see department store, the most prestigious luxury brands temple, and home to the Valmont corner, also giving pride of place to art and travel.
After Munich and Berlin, it is now in Asia and for the first time in South Korea that Ivo in Tanzania has chosen to stay. An exhibition in a setting echoing Ivo’s natural environment. Unexpected nature, botanical gardens, bright atmosphere, airy exhibition space; the latest creation of renowned architect Sir Richard Rogers reinterprets art and architecture with an astonishing beauty.
Ivo In Tanzania’s works have every opportunity to flourish on Hyundai Mokdong 7th floor. A warm setting where three varied and complementary spaces shape the majestic gorilla set free peregrinations.
The exhibition. Ivo celebrates freedom, art meets beauty
For this contemporary art exhibition Ivo in Tanzania, Valmont Korea and Fondation Valmont have imagined a complete, clever, and creative journey. An immersion in the colors of Tanzania and the House motto “When Art meets Beauty”.
Divided into several zones, customers and art lovers begin their journey with Ivo in an area displaying Valmont’s brand and its three iconic lines: Valmont, Storie Veneziane, l’Elixir des Glaciers.
Then, like an invitation to discover its colorful world of Tanzanian fabrics, Ivo appears. Colorful silk-screened Ivo or associated cardboard carved Ivo. Silk-screen prints and puzzlessometimes giant, for an enchantment in the kitenges’ colors dressing the women and traditions of Tanzania.
The marvelous immersion continues in a projection room, where for the first time and in exclusivity, Hope images are unveiled. The movie retracing the moving journey in Uganda of a 16-year-old girl, Valentine Guillon, accompanied by a cameraman, Cyril Ducottet, to meet Ivo in his natural world.
The ultimate exhibition area is an outstretched hand. To visitors, so they may perpetuate Ivo’s quest for freedom, through a charity or by acquiring one of the shop’s souvenirs. To children, so they in turn, can adorn Ivo with their joyful innocence and inventiveness, in a dedicated space around colouring tables.
© Capucine Guillon
Tanzania. A hymn to art across borders
Didier Guillon found the inspiration for this new Ivo epic during a trip to Tanzania and in particular to Zanzibar. Tanzania, the crossroads of multiple influences. The meeting of Arab, African, Asian, and Oriental cultures. Tanzania and its Maasai culture, its men and women, its luxuriant nature, its classified patrimony. A heritage made up of majestic architecture, ancestral know-how and traditional fabrics.
Fabrics such as kitenge, born from Tanzanian women hands, is Didier Guillon’s wonderment source. Multicolored, the kitenge is decorated with elaborate and densely structured patterns. An essential part of African history since the mid-1800s, both a symbol of traditional design and contemporary innovation.
Tanzania tells its story through its loincloths. And Ivo, on its side, celebrates his heritage across borders.
Ivo in Tanzania, serigraphy 1, 120×80 cm
Ivo in Tanzania. A charity on behalf of children happiness.
Ivo in Tanzania exhibition in Seoul is as well an opportunity for Didier Guillon and Fondation Valmont to join forces with a charity. The artist, who wish everyone could have a solid foundation to realize his or her dreams, is particularly concerned about children happiness. Thus, a part of the amounts generated by the sale Ivo in Tanzania – Seoul souvenirs will be donated to the exhibition charity partner: Child Fund Korea. An organization with an essential mission, create a vibrant world of integrity for children to enjoy a happy life.