11. 1. Cotonou Trash Art and "Alibert Voodoo"

Maryam and Joachim had to leave for Lagos. The rest of us finally wanted to leave Cotonou for Ghana. Before this, we decided to apply for visa for Nigeria, as we all have flights out of Lagos, and the officer at the Nigerian embassy in Cotonou gave Maryam and Joachim visa without asking for bribes (which really surprised them after their border experience).

Arriving at the embassy, they were out of application forms and asked us to go and make copies, but some more for their further use. Then we had an interview to prove, that we “deserve to go to that wonderful country”: Why we wanted to go there, what we think about Nigeria, what we know about it? And then the officer said, we better go back to Vienna to apply, here it is no business for him to treat our asses. We did not have money for bribes, so he only “could give” us visa for 7 days (in the form it said 1 month), which was ok with us anyway.

After this performance, Igor, Stefan and I went to ASTON, an artist living at the beginning of Haye Vive, the posh restaurant and boutique-area of Cotonou. We had passed the house several times, admiring the huge trash metal giraffe and guitar player on the roof. His phone number was written on the wall next to his door, so we had made an appointment with him for 2 p.m.

Aston was there, and he introduced us to his universe of finest trash: all walls, and even the ceiling were covered with artworks and installations. Out of a big box, he conjured up one installation after the other, like the “politichiens” - politicians are like “chiens” (dogs), when they get their food, they don´t let anybody else to their bowl.

His roof top terrace is covered with assorted trash, most of the work he is doing there. If he specialises in certain kinds of waste? “No, I am collecting everything”.

Aston is musician, so his favourite materials and topics are connected with music: a man made of headphones, guitar players and saxophone players made out of computer parts and small speakers… His “star”, however, are used toothbrushes: he is using them everywhere - as joints, feathers, whole environments…

We fell in love with some of his works and bought them for the exhibition.

After a short meal, we called the trash artists we met at the voodoo festival in Ouidah. They told the zemidjan-driver how to get to their place.

With our rich booty from Aston in our hands, and the “Alibert” (small mirrored bathroom cabinet) our colleague Markus Wilfling gave us for our truck´s “bathroom”, we were sitting on the mopeds and went high speed out of the city to the suburbs. Markus is collecting “Aliberts” and uses them for his artwork. He bought us one, and we had to promise to stage a “voodoo”-ceremony with it. The artists with their voodoo masks were the right address to do this.

They picked us up on the main street and brought us to their house. On the way, they had a huge trash sculpture in the public space. We got a warm welcome, some “Sodabi” (local spirits), and I was dizzy immediately. After explaining our “Alibert”-project, they brought their masks and candles, Igor brought the stag´s antlers, that our colleagues Markus and Max Gansberger gave us as talisman in order to find a good new place for it. After arranging masks, candles, and the “Jägermeister” (an Austrian spirit with antlers on the label), they started to play drums, and we joined them, drumming on different objects and chanting. All around in the neighbourhood people were singing, drumming, laughing, we started to dance, and Igor made the photos promised to Markus.

The artists explained their masks, and we chose to buy one containing a water bottle: it was made out of materials from a burned house, the water bottle means something like “drink out of the bottle and be ready to die”. It comes from the time of slavery – when it became too much for the slaves, they were “drinking out of the bottle”, and it gave them incredible strengths.

Before leaving, they made a protection ritual for us in their “Mami Wata” house shrine. Our travels will be safe.