The first private contemporary art foundation in Madagascar and the first cultural institution of this scale in the country, Fondation H will inaugurate its new 1,500-square-metre space in the heart of the Malagasy capital, on 28th April 2023.

Exhibition curators Alya Sebti (Director, ifa-Galerie, Berlin), Bérénice Saliou (Director, Documents d’Artistes La Réunion) and Prof. Dr. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung (Founder, SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin, and from January 2023 on, Director, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin) have been invited to delve into the work of Zoarinivo Razakaratrimo, known as Madame Zo, an icon of the Malagasy art scene and virtuoso weaver, who died in 2020. Artist residencies and conferences with international speakers will accompany the exhibition.

Fondation H was created in Antananarivo in 2017 by entrepreneur and patron Hassanein Hiridjee, who believes that art and culture have a strong societal impact and foster a critical openness to the world. For the past six years, Fondation H has been running programmes to support artists from Africa and its diasporas in their careers, facilitating public access to art on an international scale, and as it grew to become a key regional institution, has been playing an active part in developing and structuring the Indian ocean art scene.

Set in downtown Antananarivo in a century-old historic building that has been completely renovated and extended by Madagascar-based studio Architecture Otmar Dodel, through the revived use of local materials and traditional skills, Fondation H’s new space aims to be a vibrant, creative place for dialogue.

Over a total of 1,500 square metres, Fondation H will host a variety of events and programmes—international exhibitions; artist residencies supported by grants; conferences, workshops, forums, studio tours, etc., mediation projects for its various audiences; the city’s first library dedicated to contemporary art; beyond-the-wall projects in the public space; a restaurant; and a garden showcasing endemic botanical species of Madagascar.

All of Fondation H’s exhibitions and programmes are free, to promote access to the greatest number and to provide long-term support to the local artistic scene. The building is also energy self-sufficient, thanks to a solar panel array.