THE FACES COLLECTION 2

The work takes as its starting point a collection of eleven ceramic fèves produced in 2001 for galettes des rois (French/Belgian Epiphany cakes), each one a miniature replica of an African mask. Using these small objects, Anna Safiatou Touré creates hundreds of imprints in red terracotta, giving rise to a new collection. Their accumulation recalls the inventories and storerooms of major European ethnographic collections, many of which were assembled within a colonial context. Here, however, the artist shifts the processes of reproduction and collecting: miniature replicas of masks themselves become moulds for a multitude of new forms. In doing so, she creates a collection of her own, reclaiming control over its narrative, origins and conditions of existence. The work resonates particularly strongly with Belgian history and with contemporary debates surrounding the provenance and restitution of African collections.

One-off piece – Brussels, 2026

816 red terracotta sculptures

Dimensions: approximately 2–6 cm high, approximately 1–3 cm wide – with holes in the back