Dominique Zinkpè’s works with a wide range of materials, from jute to used cars to “hôhô” figures, which come from the Cult of Twins in southern Benin as a voodoo religion symbole of fertility. His portfolio is continually morphing between mediums and subjects, tackling issues such as intimacy, sex, the sacred and the profane while linking ancestral culture with the contradictions found in today’s world. These sketches of tumultuous human drama are infused with elements of irony and satire to reveal Zinkpè’s most disturbing and arresting constructs of the imagination.
Originally commissioned for the 32nd Sao Paulo Biennial, the film Estás vendo coisas (You are seeing things) depicts the subculture of Brega music, a fusion of American Hip Hop, Brazilian techno and Caribbean reggaeton that emerged in North Eastern Brazil over the last decade. Part anthropological documentary and part musical the film speaks about the realities of Brazil with its enormous social and economic tensions.