The home of Togolese artist Koumy is proof that one can live content and in perfect harmony with nature in small spaces. Koumy’s home is a festival of colours, an ode to beauty and harmony in the middle of the dust and concrete that we are so accustomed to in many African cities. Importantly too, it offers us hints on how we should live in a post-growth society.
After spending some time in Belgium where he honed his skills and started getting serious attention in major art circles with his neo-contemporary pieces, Koumy decided to return to Lomé, Togo, to share his craft with Africans. He believed strongly that African artists have a special duty to make their work more accessible to Africans. He knows many top figures in African politics and social life, but his passion is sharing his craft and big heart with the world.
Koumy’s home sits on a 100 square metre plot of land in the heart of Lomé. The external view of the home already bears witness to what Koumy has done to give back to his community. On one side of the street, he has installed public benches covered in art. On the other side, there is a long mural of ceramic cuttings depicting different qualities like love, togetherness and collaboration. The giant blue heart at the entrance to his home leaves no one in doubt as to the fact that he wants to share this labour of love with the entire world.
Once inside the compound itself, you cannot help but gasp as your jaws drop with the sheer volume of beauty that you are surrounded with. Visitors are immersed into a three hundred and sixty degree creation that must have taken ages to make.
The immaculate, well-kept gardens create a microclimate that is cooler than the rest of the city. Hidden on one side, is two sculptures of male and female thinkers after Rodin’s style, topped with red hearts. Koumy seems to do everything: sculpture (cement, acrylic), carving, painting, gardening!
Data shows that urban spaces with good forest canopy have some of the following advantages:
Temperatures can be up to 8 degrees cooler than in other parts of the same city where there is only concrete or asphalt paving;
- Cool spaces help people to relax and release stress;
- There is often more creativity when people are surrounded by trees and birds and insects;
- The calm surroundings of leafy areas means that people are healthier because they can spend more time outdoors doing the things they love;
- Leafy suburbs are also conducive for agriculture and, helping keep people connected to nature.
We need to copy Koumy’s example.
Follow the path and you soon come to what is probably the most beautiful swimming pool area you have ever seen. Calm, relaxing, and covered in wall-to-wall painting of breadthtaking quality.
The rest of the house is similarly decorated in pop art, neo-contemporary, neo expressionist, gouache and graffiti-inspired pieces. Just take a look at this entire house that looks and feels like a museum. The refrigerator, the tables, the chairs, the wallpaper, the sculptures…there is art of exceptional quality crammed into every possible corner that the eyes fall on.
This is a truly remarkable home. The quality of his work speaks for itself and Koumy’s art has travelled far and wide. His pieces are in the Togolese presidency, in various hotels, public spaces and in the homes of major public figures around West Africa and beyond.
On any given day, his little paradise receives guests from all over the world, from local neighbours to ambassadors, ministers, artists and students too.
Koumy’s life work is testament to the fact that you can shine bright like the stars wherever you are and you do not need flashy cars, flashy technology, or even eighteen-bedroom mansions to feel happy or to be fulfilled. It tells you that you do not need to destroy nature to be happy. Rather, you can shape your existence around nature, and become one with it.
It is also a call to Africans that they can succeed wherever they are. All you need is a big heart, sagacity and patience.
All who come to this wonderland leave Koumyfied!
