With doual’art, hotbed of african artists in the heart of central africa, Princess marilyn douala manga bell wants to improve the overall living Standards of the inhabitants of the economic capital of cameroon.
It is not a coincidence that Doual’art, the center of contemporary art created by Princess Marilyn Douala Manga Bell, is located in the historic center of Douala. Housed in a disused cinema, it is attached to the former palace of a rebel king hanged in 1914 for refusing the annexation of the land of Doualas people by the German Empire. He was the great grandfather of Marilyn, Rudolph Douala Manga Bell, and we are celebrating his centenary this year.
Owner of a rebel soul, the Princess refuses to see her city deteriorating. For over 20 years, with her husband Didier Schaub, artistic director of Doual’art, she encourages artists from around the world to tune in the desires of the inhabitants of Douala in order to create monumental works of art that beautify their neighborhoods. Residents will benefit from it as well as the artists who get the chance to show their work in a hostile environment where art is neither supported nor valued. According to the Princess, although the continent has other priorities, art is essential because it helps to live a better life and to forge your own identity.
More than twenty monumental art works have been installed in various venues around the city, such as «The New Freedom» a 12-meters statue made by the Cameroonian artist Joseph Francis Sumégné. Built with
