A group exhibition with

Rose Kely Ranarivelo . Sanka

Fitiavana Ratovo . Andy Rasoloharivony

LA NOUVELLE MAIN

Like words drifting across a blackboard, La Nouvelle Main is the first utterance of four young Malagasy creatives.

Are they artists or not?

Will they become artists?

These are the questions being asked. This is the intrigue.

Yet the issue here is not whether they will become artists, but rather how to reveal their commitment to creation, their desire to project themselves into the forms of today and tomorrow, carried by the beautiful recklessness of youth.

At Hakanto Contemporary, we are proud to introduce four young artists to the public—emerging figures of a new Malagasy contemporary scene—through monumental and previously unseen works produced specifically for this exhibition.

Fitiavana Ratovo, Andy Rasoloharivony, Sanka and Rose Kely Ranarivelo first took part in a series of workshops organised by Hakanto Contemporary. These encounters were conceived to encourage dialogue and exchange between artists from different disciplines, and above all to reveal new energies.

Imagined as spaces for discussion and collective reflection, these workshops not only enabled the identification of the four artists featured in this exhibition, but also supported them in developing and shaping their artistic proposals. At this stage of their journeys, each of them remains deeply engaged in a process of research and experimentation. They continue to explore aesthetic possibilities through their respective mediums while venturing into new materials, forms and territories. The mentorship provided in preparation for this exhibition placed particular emphasis on preserving this openness within each of their practices.

From the outset, these young artists have been driven by a desire to move forward, to push beyond familiar boundaries and discover new directions for their work. They seek to nourish their practice, broaden its horizons and challenge their own habits, certainties and solitude. Despite the uncertainty surrounding the path they have chosen, they remain unwavering in their commitment. The desire to experiment, to express themselves and simply to exist takes precedence over everything else and resonates throughout every gesture, proposal and material presented here.

Image, metal, terracotta, textile and paper intertwine in a dialogue of contrasts and confrontations. Together they reflect a plurality of voices united by works rooted in personal histories and lived social experiences.

Perhaps this is what gives early works their particular charm, and what makes the pieces presented here so compelling. They reveal themselves to the world as forms of self-portraiture. In these installations, the strength of each proposal lies in its balance and sincerity, for few artistic exercises are more demanding than speaking about oneself and one's own universe, navigating the delicate tension between representation and truth.

Through the lens of her family history, Rose Kely Ranarivelo revisits a moment she holds especially dear: Retour à la source . Miverina amin'ny fihavanana. Drawing upon ceramics, wood and painting, she recreates the elements of this family gathering upon an imagined table. Inspired by the essences of her dual Franco-Malagasy heritage, her assemblage resonates with cultural and social references related to taste, memory and aesthetics.

For his work, Fitiavana Ratovo appropriates a construction principle encountered in everyday life. This series of sculpted metal sheets, displayed like a gallery of portraits, represents members of a community united by a common vision, shared values and collective aspirations. Iray Lalana—literally "walking the same path"—emerges as a call for collective awareness within a society in crisis.

Through the force of material and the power of imagery, Andy Rasoloharivony invites visitors into a church-like environment to experience L'urgence de la foi. Through a striking interplay of contrasts, the artist presents symbols of Christian devotion within a construction-site setting. Natural daylight filtering through this mystical and sacred space elevates the experience to its fullest intensity.

Sanka presents a first major work that draws upon her long-standing experience as a portrait artist. The installation combines original portraits with their reproductions. Through this immersive environment, which plunges us into the depth and intensity of the gaze—the window to the soul—the artist recalls her beginnings in drawing at the age of four, a tender memory linked to her mother and her years in primary school. The work returns her to those first gestures and to the dream of becoming an artist.

La Nouvelle Main is a sketch of the future—uncertain, certainly, but animated by the conviction of four young hopes determined to create, shape and inhabit their own time.

Joël Andrianomearisoa · Rina Ralay-Ranaivo

2022