Hervé Yamguen

HERVÉ YAMGUEN WAS BORN IN 1971 IN DOUALA, CAMEROON, WHERE HE LIVES AND WORKS.

A self-taught artist, Hervé Yamguen has developed his expertise over thirty years of eclectic artistic practice, touching on fields such as writing, visual arts, performance and theatrical set design. In 1998, alongside several artists, including Salifou Lindou, he co-founded Cercle Kapsiki, an initiative aimed at integrating art into Douala’s urban space through the organization of exhibitions, projects and residencies, inviting artists from all over the world to transform the public space.

Hervé Yamguen’s work draws on a deep current of consciousness. His art aims to transcend the everyday, to go beyond tangible reality to explore wider spheres of existence. His bronze sculptures, characterized by hybrid beings combining human, animal and plant forms, question the links within the living world, symbolising metamorphoses that celebrate a communion between beings. Through his creations, Hervé Yamguen invites the viewer to a contemplation imbued with wonder, revealing the strengths and beauty of existence.

Inducted as a notable in his father’s village in western Cameroon a few years ago, Hervé Yamguen revives traditions and rituals while maintaining his perspective as a contemporary artist. This duality between cultural heritage and modern artistic expression marks his work, bridging past and present.

Yamguen’s work has been presented in major institutions and events around the world. He notably participated in Sur la route des chefferies du Cameroun at the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac in Paris in 2022, and in Terrafilia, Beyond Human at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid in 2025. His works have also been shown at international art fairs, including 1-54 in London, Marrakech, and New York, Art Genève in Switzerland, Untitled Miami in the United States, and Investec in Cape Town, South Africa. In 2016, his sculptures were praised by art critic Philippe Dagen in Le Monde, confirming the international recognition of his work.

His artworks have joined prestigious private and public collections such as Fondation H in Madagascar, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Spain, Scharf – Gerstenberg Foundation in Germany as well as the World Bank.

In February 2024, he presented his first solo exhibition in Europe, Les mondes de l’oiseau-conteur, at AFIKARIS Gallery. This collaboration continues with a second solo exhibition, Nos géographies intimes, presented in September 2026.