Born in Yaoundé, Cameroon, in 1992, Franck Kemkeng Noah took an interest in drawing at a very early age. He graduated with a Master’s in Fine Arts from the Foumban Institute of Fine Arts (IBAF) in his native country. In 2017, he moved to France and took a second Master’s degree, this time in Art Research at the University of Picardy Jules Verne in Amiens.

Kemkeng Noah’s roots in Cameroon’s Bamileke ethnic group and its culture would become one of his main sources of inspiration, basing his art research on the works of a number of artists, including Hervé Youmbi, Beatriz Gonzalez, Helio Oiticica and Etienne Martin, and on The Cannibalist Manifesto by Oswald de Andrade.

In the past, Kemkeng Noah would paint on pieces of carpet and household objects he found lying in the streets. They provided a new medium for a series of works that function as narrative points in the history of migration. Often labelled “hybrid art”, Kemkeng Noah’s work pursues an experimental approach that is essentially characterised by painting. Now, his works take on more of an experimental approach characterized mainly by the exploitation of painting, sculpture, interactive performance and installation. The artist’s aesthetic research, from the heart of which emerge mixed artworks, offers a uniquely vibrant take on the concepts of interculturalism, identity and civilisation. At the centre of his concerns is the fusing of human cultures.

Kemkeng Noah has taken part in many collective and individual exhibitions. In 2022, his work is featured in a collective exhibition at the Musée du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023
'Memory Palaces: The creations of Franck Kemkeng Noah', Texas Southern University Museum of Houston, USA

2022
‘Cross History’, Es Saadi Palace, Marrakech, Morocco

2019
AAC Gallery in Amiens, France

2015
'All in One and a One in All', Goethe Institute, Cameroon, Central Africa

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2022
‘Summer Flings’, Foreign Agent, Switzerland
‘Art Is Child’s Play’, African Arty, Casablanca, Morocco
‘Sur La Route Des Chefferies Du Cameroun’, Musée du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, Paris, France
‘Visions and Convergences’, Black Liquid Art Gallery, Roma, Italy
‘Investec Cape Town Art Fair’, African Arty Booth, Cape Town South Africa2021
‘AAGA Annual African Galleries Now online edition powered by Artsy, Africa
‘The Last Days of 2021’, African Arty, Casablanca, Morocco

2021
'AFRITOPIA' at the Common House of Brussels, Belgium
Blachère Foundation in Avignon, France

2020
‘The Cabinet’, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa

2019
'Young Artist', Art Course Gallery in Strasbourg, France

2018
'Quinzaine de Parrainage', Stéphane Salford Gallery in Marseille, France

2016
'BIMBIA' (memory of slavery and trade in Cameroon), National Museum of Cameroon Yaoundé, Central Africa
'Hybridity as a Factor of Tolerance', Hilton Hotel Yaoundé / Cameroon, Central Africa

Residencies

2023
Texas Southern University Museum of Houston, USA