Our
Mission
Fondation H is a Malagasy contemporary art foundation.
It was founded in Antananarivo in 2017 on the initiative of entrepreneur and patron Hassanein Hiridjee, who believed that art and culture have a strong social impact and enable a critical opening to the world. It has been recognized as a public utility since 2018.
Fondation H operates programs dedicated to supporting artists from Africa and its diasporas in their careers, facilitates public access to art, and actively participates in the development and structuring of the art scene in the Indian Ocean.
Fondation H, in its 2200 m² space in downtown Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, invites local or international curators to conceive exhibitions anchored in the Malagasy context. The emphasis is on local productions, through residences and creative grants. Depending on the choice of the curators, the art works presented in the space may be loaned works, or belong to Fondation H’s collection, which is largely focused on artists from Africa and its diasporas.
Fondation H sets up various programs, all completely free of charge, dedicated to artists and its audiences: Prix Paritana in support of the young malagasy scene since 2017, artist residencies in Antananarivo and Paris (via its partnership with the Cité internationale des arts in Paris, where Fondation H has been renting a studio apartment, and its adjoining exhibition space since 2020), Hay creative workshops for children aged 6 to 14 since 2021, Ainga training courses for artists since 2022, and numerous cultural mediation initiatives linked to each exhibition, including Les samedis de la Fondation H, every saturday morning of the year, and two to three public programs per year.
Fondation H is committed to a long-term approach to its environmental impact. The 2200 m² building and its Café are powered exclusively by a field of solar panels installed on its roof. The building's natural air circulation was designed at the time of construction (2021-2023), to successfully dispense with air conditioning.
Locations
MADAGASCAR
Established in 2017 as Madagascar's first private contemporary art foundation, Fondation H operates in a 2200 m² space, entirely free of charge, in the heart of downtown Antananarivo, the Malagasy capital.
Set in a historic building, built a century ago and fully renovated and extended (2021-2023), Fondation H is a lively place for creation and dialogue, focusing on artists from Africa and the diaspora. It hosts vast exhibition spaces, a library, a mediation room, a studio for visiting artists, a Café, a courtyard and a garden accessible to the public, an apartment and office space for the Fondation H team and visiting artists. The building welcomes between 12,000 and 15,000 visitors a month.
FRANCE
The Parisian space of Fondation H has an experimental dimension and allows itself a great deal of leeway in the format taken by the collaborations with guest artists, acting as host to the works and projects developed during the residency. The Mizaha Paris program operates within this space.
The space is never intended to exhibit pre-existing works, but rather to be the venue for in-situ installations following residency periods (Hyacinthe Ouattara, M'barka Amor, Christian Sanna, Temandrota, Adji Dieye, Ange Dakouo, Magalie Grondin), and is also regularly transformed into a studio by artists who take up residencye there for a few months at a time(Maya Inès Touam, Adelaide Damoah, Johanna Mirabel, Roxane Mbanga).
The space is adjacent to the Cité internationale des arts in Paris, a Fondation H partner, where a live-in studio is available to guest artists.
Artist residencies at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris are currently by invitation only.
Our Team
Our
Partners
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Our
identity
Fondation H’s visual identity is built around symbols taken from Malagasy culture and its decorative arts. Assisted by the South African agency SuperUnion, Fondation H gave Tsiriniaina Irimboangy carte-blanche to design a series of patterns inspired by Malagasy symbols which are most often featured on lamba fabrics.