About

Bwo is an art gallery based in Douala, Cameroon dedicated to the promotion of contemporary art by emerging, mid-career and established artists from Africa and its diasporas.  As a young gallery, Bwo wants to harness the power of contemporary art to create a multiplicity of dialogues prioritizing cross-cultural exchanges between Cameroon and the rest of the world.  The gallery has a dynamic program consisting of solo and group exhibitions which feature promising and leading artists with unique voices. 
 
Founders
Before co-founding Bwo Art Gallery in 2023, Brice Yonkeu and Noelle Mukete-Elhalaby co-founded Bwo Art, an Atlanta-based advisory firm that specializes in dealing contemporary African art globally and in managing the careers of contemporary African artists from the diaspora.
 
At Bwo Art, Brice and Noelle have been instrumental in establishing strong connections between artists and galleries, utilizing Brice’s deep understanding of the art market and Noelle’s strong business acumen to propel the careers of numerous artists forward. Their endeavor has cultivated awareness and nurtured connections within the art community. Through their success with Bwo Art, it became increasingly obvious that Bwo Art Gallery was the next essential step in their journey to offer a platform to Contemporary African artists from the continent and from the diaspora.
 
Bwo is  driven by five main principles: Representing our culture by our culture, When intention meets execution, Offering a stage for the Black voice: On and around the canvas, Connecting physically and digitally, A local institution reaching for education.
 
Gallery Director
Maud Ntonga is a French-Cameroonian art professional who relocated from Paris, France to Douala to head Bwo. 
 
In a quest to answer the question "What makes Culture?” she has worked for various cultural and art institutions in Africa and Europe, focusing on curation and cultural funding management. Her journey across cities and oceans has brought her to grow a genuine passion for writing, curating and most of all, discovering new stories. She particularly enjoys working on projects that bring together different people, perspectives and visions.
 
Maud holds a B. A in African Studies and Political Sciences, and an M.A in Cultural Management from the French university Sciences Po Paris. Until her appointment as Gallery Director of Bwo, Maud was a Project Manager at the Paris National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts where she contributed with her vision and ethos on numerous cultural projects with European resonance, the same way she did during her time at the French Ministry of Culture.