Africa Pop at the Musée International d'Art Naïf Anatole Jakovsky
Nice, in southern France, is not a hotbed of African culture. So it was a surprise to see a poster for the exhibition Africa Pop , showcasing African textiles in an original way, at a museum I had never heard of, the Musée International d'Art Naïf Anatole Jakovsky. The museum in itself was a nice surprise. Anatole Jakovsky was an art critic, collector, and writer, of Moldovan origin, who was very interested in 20th Century "naive" art, art from self-taught artists. He donated his extensive collection to the city of Nice. The museum was opened in 1982, in the historical Château Sainte-Hélène, which used to belong to the perfumer François Coty. The ground floor houses the permanent collection, that includes well-known artists such as the postman Rousseau and Grandma Moses. Africa Pop (running through October 18, 2026) is on the upper floor. There were many wall hangings made of superimposed African cotton fabrics ("pagne" in French), each wall hanging combining...
