CULTURAMA is the new destination for discoverers defending the best of Art, Architecture and Design in order to reinvent your contemporary lifestyle. As a bilingual webmagazine and audiovisual broadcaster with CULTURAMA STUDIO, CULTURAMA explores the trends of 21st century Art and Design, with its exclusive interviews, documentaries, articles, and mini-series. Hundreds of renowned artists have already participated in this adventure. CULTURAMA builds bridges between creators and executives, and as such, it becomes essential.

Speak BROTHER Speak poster | KAMUN©

Invigorating speech

CULTURAMA introduces you to Kamun, a digital artist who follows, in his words, Social Art. Even though he grapples with painful topics such as racism or colonization, his work is not limited to a form of activism, as the quest for identity remains underlying for Kamun. Once you meet him, you will discover a freedom of tone, a very recognizable style, and strong messages, like the one from Speak BROTHER Speak.

KAMUN

Eric of CULTURAMA: You define yourself as an African Caribbean, an uprooted man in search of himself, of his history. This self-research enriches your work. Conversely, did artistic expression contribute to your quest?

Kamun: Without a doubt, subconsciously. I wondered about my personality and my position in society even before these questions formed a subject for artistic research. Through such questions, by dint of representing myself through different mediums, I was able to include myself in a Whole, in a movement, to define myself without being stuck in a given know-how. My experience as a social worker has greatly contributed to delimiting this Whole: I watched after adolescents from violent contexts. More generally, I accompanied the individual, I brought him into our society. This experience has become the tool at the origin of my artistic process.

Eric: What influenced you in your decision to focus on the social aspect of Art?

Kamun: In 2014, when the first logo-like variations of my characters were born, I still felt far removed from any artistic process. These characters later formed The BROWN Family, but this name, based mainly on color, still seemed partial and reductive to me. Until a childhood friend told me that BROWN can stand for Black Realize their Own World Now. My interpretation of the acronym is Create! Get into action! This expression allowed me to refine my approach. The characters then became the true representation of my journey, of what I feel and defend.

RRR-1 | KAMUN ©

Contamination | KAMUN ©

Eric: Recently, you produced the series named ROUGH, the ROOTS of REVOLUTION, which questions the place of failed attempts in the production of the final work. Another recent work is the animated film Speak BROTHER Speak that deals with racism and apartheid, among other topics. What are your future projects?

Kamun: I am working on an exhibition called Carnet KRITIK. It should take place somewhere in 2021. Carnet KRITIK is a series of drawings focusing on recent and current events in Guadeloupe. These problems, however, are not new, they persist, are omnipresent, and sometimes resurface with force in our social reality. For example, prolonged water cuts due to renovations interrupted because of the disappearance of the pipe plans; in some neighborhoods, such cuts can last up to a month because of non-locatable leaks in the network. Of course, it doesn’t reduce the water bill.

This decision was economically beneficial but, in return, polluted a large part of Martinique and Guadeloupe. The cancer rate is generally higher in these areas, especially among farmers who were working with chlordecone at the time.

KAMUN derrière son autoportrait | Laurence Baptiste Salomon ©

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