Serge Mouangue

Serge Mouangue is a Cameroonian born designer and artist, based in Paris, France. He has worked in various design fields and is known for his series of Japanese/Cameroonian art pieces, from which he has gained notoriety in the art world. His art style is based upon ideas of shared belonging, identity, and the similarities between cultures.

Early life and education Mouangue was born in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Mouangue's father wanted him to become a judge or engineer, but eventually accepted Mouangue's choice to develop his creative talent. There he met and worked with Nobel Prize winning architect Glen Murcutt. He worked as part of the Creative Box Inc. a think tank run by Nissan. Whilst working in Japan, Mouangue worked on concept cars such as the 'Kwid' concept car, a car tailored to the clientele of India. Mouangue worked in Japan for five years, but has since stopped working for Renault and now operates as a small business start-up and design correspondent, currently working closely with sustainable materials developer "WooDoo".

Mouangue has continuously drawn and designed in his own time, alongside his career. In Japan, he chose to embark on a side-project aimed at portraying his cultural experiences as a Cameroonian in Japan. His creative platform "Wafrica", was developed as a way to keep creative ownership of his work. Later art pieces such as "Blood Brothers" gained critical acclaim and were exhibited on an international level. Mouangue became a fellow of TED in 2011. He also had his artwork used by editor Ashley Bellet in her book "New Approaches to Decolonizing Fashion History and Period Styles, Re-Fashioning Pedagogies" a book outlining concepts similar to Mouangue's third aesthetic concept.

In 2024, Mouangue secured his first solo exhibition in Japan at Marubeni Gallery in Tokyo. Running for one month, the exhibition focuses on the amalgamation of cultural influences in Mouangue's work, incorporating his Kimonos, masks and other works. Concepts like the third aesthetic are used to indicate the work's ability to rise above tradition and cultural rigidity. In 2024 his work was also featured in the Sennyuji Temple Shariden Hall in Japan, another exhibition where his work took centre stage, further solidifying his artistic status in Japan.

Mouangue was commissioned by AKAA in their 2025 exhibition to display his collection of works named "The Third Aesthetic". As well as pieces such as the Seven Sisters, he showcased more recent works such as "Les Lucioles" and "TransAppearance". 2025 also presented Mouangue opportunities to showcase his work in two biennale, once in Venice and also at the Dakar biennale.

Artistry Mouangue has developed a term called the 'third aesthetic', which he describes as an in-between, collaborative space that is created when two cultures interact. The ideology derives from Mouangue's first experiences in Japan. He noticed that features of Japanese and Cameroonian culture such as animism, spirituality, and codification of symbols, were shared, and although there were also large differences, there were enough similarities to make Mouangue question ideas of identity and cultural belonging.

Kimono Mouangue developed a set of kimono first in collaboration with Japanese kimono maker Kururi, and later with kimono maker Odasho. They were also worn by actress Victoria Abril at Cannes in 2017. which showed the preparation and styling choices of the kimono, ready for its tour as part of the "Black Thread and Kimono – Kyoto to Catwalk" event, run by the V&A. and in 2023, were featured on the front cover of the Patek Philippe magazine, photographed by photographer Silvia Draz.

Later in 2023, Mouangue was involved in a talk named "Fashioning Kimono" with another fashion designer Kazu Huggler, hosted by Museum Rietberg.

Blood Brothers Blood Brothers is a series of wooden human-like sculptures finished in traditional Japanese lacquer work. The sculptures were sourced from pygmy craftsmen in Cameroon and taken to Japan where they were finished with a lacquer coating, done by Okawara Masaru, a traditional lacquer worker.

Other works Tea ceremony Mouangue has also composed live performances to illustrate his ideas of third aesthetic and the Japanese/Cameroonian relationship. In 2009, at the French Institute in Japan, Mouangue put together a performance of a tea ceremony, accompanied by Senegalese musicians. Those acting as hosts were wearing Mouangue's kimono, and the ceremony also featured a woman posing as a participating spirit.

Cosmos Cosmos is a set of Nigerian masks of fertility, finished by Japanese lacquer worker Nagatoshi Onishi.

, translating to "feather wind" in English, is a collaborative piece between Mouangue, the Toyota Europe Design Development Centre and Eric Charles-Donatien. The piece is meant to represent movement and shared heritage.

Golgoth I-IV Another transformation of an African mask, this time from the Bambara people in Mali, Mouangue enlisted Masaru Okawara again to transform the mask with a lacquer coating. Mouangue has produced a series of these masks, each styled on different animals, but all using the same lacquer techniques.

Seven Sisters "Seven Sisters" is an installation displaying a group of 14 women wearing masks and robes. The masks are Punu masks from Gabon. The robes are Cameroonian, made from a Ndop textile by the Bamileke people. The installation also aims at stimulating a feeling of shared heritage. Seven sisters was featured as the main focus of interest in Mouangue's 2025 AKAA exhibition "The Third Aesthetic".

Fragrance Mouangue is in the process of developing a fragrance which mixes botanical fragrances from African rainforests and Japanese wildflowers.

Sasa 笹

Made between 2019 and 2020, the Sasa mask, similar to the Golgoth series, is a sculpted piece of wood, coated with washi paper and finished with urushi lacquer.