Ly Dumas, founder and president of the NGO Fondation Jean-Félicien Gacha, Frédéric Dumas and Edouard Dumas, president of the Espace Culturel Gacha, are delighted to announce the creation of Maison Gacha.

Imagine the deep joy I feel when I write and read this sentence. My husband Frédéric and I, are bringing a new ‘baby’ into the world: the exhibition space of the Espace Culturel Gacha, Parisian offshoot of the Jean-Félicien Gacha Foundation that we have been developing in Cameroon since 2003. From Bangoulap, with all its workshops, library, school, farm, guest house, medicinal garden and plantations, to Paris, where the Maison Gacha is intended to be a hybrid space dedicated to the preservation and promotion of tangible and intangible know-how, our project allows for a wide range of expressions, a library, and exhibitions by contemporary artists, some of whom have developed their creative work in residence in Bangoulap. We aim to unveil to the public the objects and textiles that I have been collecting for so many years as well.

“Ly Dumas, Weaving Life”. The first exhibition at Maison Gacha features a selection of major traditional African textiles – Ndop from Cameroon, Bogolan from Mali, Ntschak and Kasaï velvet from the DRC, Rabal from Senegal and Baoulé fabric from Côte d’Ivoire – alongside a few key pieces of the thousands of garments created during my years as a fashion designer (1991-2002).

The curators, Dana Ulieru and Danilo Lovisi, were advised by Charles Dumas, our eldest son. A family affair, you might say. It’s about first trusting in each other’s talents. Because to exhibit, publish, create and share, which is the vocation of Maison Gacha, we rely on enthusiastic personalities from different backgrounds. Like the artisans who work with different materials creating art forms from beads, clay, textiles, wood and iron.

On 16 January, our guests discovered Maison Gacha. In an ephemeral setting, plants arranged along the corridor at the entrance to the building alluded to the greenery and red soil of Bangoulap: a profusion of asparagus, ferns and white flowers in natural terracotta pots. People of all ages and origins could (re)discover my Ndop or rabal jackets, my bogolan dresses and a top in raffia velvet, in dialogue with textiles displayed in majesty, bearers of a memory woven, embroidered and dyed. A flamboyant, secret heritage to be discovered by appointment only.

Ly Dumas. Weaving Life, until 7 March 2025