“Dante’s journey paints a fine portrait of the world I was living in when Convoi Royal was created. This time, the world is a lot like reality. A world running a merciless race, steered by wild beasts devouring everything in their way. The huge hooves hammer the ground, chipping it away to form an infernal whirlpool. The earth trembles with each thud, tilts, and is thrown off balance. A terrible panic strikes its inhabitants. They raise their arms to shield their heads, run around in a crazed fray, seeking temporary shelter. In the beginning, these wild animals were normal beings whose duty was to ensure a better future for the world, but their stomachs were too empty and their prey too easy for this duty to be respected. They decided to satisfy their ego instead, rather than work for the well-being of their numerous fellow beings who were famished and dying. The unknown paradise started its royal convoy. Backed up against the wall, I resign myself to a constraint, deadly as it may be: to leave.” –Jems Robert Koko Bi

Retrieved from The Divine Comedy: Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell Revisited by Contemporary African Artists by Simon Njami.

For more information on the Ivorian artist, see Wikipedia. For more information on Convoi Royal, visit the link here.