My host from the embassy took me to meet Jean Koumy, the Togolese artist I shared joint ownership with on this mural project. Right away, I discovered my African brother from another mother. His style of art, that he calls Koumyism, is loud, bold, and colorful – kind of like African fabric patterns. And, it appears that Koumyism is loved in Togo. His art can be seen inside and outside the International Airport, at the entrance to the port, at the U.S. Ambassador’s home, and at twenty other locations in the city. You can’t get much more prestigious than that in Lomé. So, how did all this success come to a self-trained artist? While living abroad, Koumy was a restaurant chef. He fixed African food with enough of a European twist that the local diners loved it. And, they also loved his art. He was encouraged to sell it in his restaurant and the success grew from there. Jean Koumy with US Ambassador Elizabeth Fitzsimmons in the Koumy courtyard. (photo from Koumy's Facebook page)Now when he returned to Togo, some important person in the government heard about him and visited his home. The official liked what she saw and asked if he could make a mosaic at the airport. Who could say no to that? And so, Togo was introduced to one of her more creative sons. And, the word spread quickly. I knew Koumy’s colors and my style would work well together. I learned that by exploring him on the internet. However, it’s an entirely different experience to go to his home. Part of the place was an entrance area where tables can be installed for workshops. Straight ahead was his home. To the left was his gallery. To the right was his worship area where he paints, forms pottery, creates mosaics, and molds cement statues with steel support. Koumyism is on overload display everywhere. Sculptures, arches, wall mosaics, paintings. You name it and it has been Koumyed. Sofas, tables, walls, ceilings, floors and even the refrigerator and microwave! His home is the Koumy Museum. One of his paintings had a hint of Jackson Pollock. That prompted me to tell him about my apartment in Antwerp where Pollock once had a meal. It sealed the deal for my rental. “You lived in Antwerp? I lived in Ghent!”
As it turned out, we both lived in Belgium at the same time, an hour away from each other. He was already well-established there, painting murals at local schools and making trips back and forth to Togo. Dansou, Tony, Koumy, Godfrey, and Hiler -- the artist with those four lucky young menKoumy remained in Togo during the reign of a certain nasty little virus. He could have easily lived in Belgium, but he was a man with a plan. He wanted to teach others his skills. He has taken four young men under his leadership. They help him with local workshops for children and assist in his murals. He’s teaching them Koumyism as they work on developing their skills. I believe they are about the four luckiest young men in Togo. These four artists participated with Koumy on the earlier mural at the US Ambassador’s residence. Now, you cannot be an art diva and paint community murals. But, Koumy is even less of a diva than me. He made a general design, but he let other people create additional images. I’ve never done that! HOWEVER, when we went to the mural site to prepare the immaculate wall of the ambassador’s residence, we saw that the wall was divided into sections. The four letters of TOGO almost filled three of the sections. There were about two or three feet left over on the left side. I said, “That could be an area for some free designing.” Koumy was so pleased. I said, “I think that Koumyism is rubbing off on me!”
As I knew from before we met, our colorful mural styles blended together just fine. It was meant to be.
