September 26 – December 20
In five enormous textile panels, Raphaël Barontini presents stories of people connected by water and blending cultures from Africa, the Caribbean, and the Americas. The heroic figures serve as symbols, or allegories, of ideas, movements, and beliefs that have travelled across waterways.
The story starts in the Caribbean islands, an archipelago, and follows tales of resistance into Canada. Abya Yala is an anti-colonial term used to describe the lands known today as South, Central, and North America. Barontini’s work embodies Creolization, when cultures and languages from around the world blend to create new identities.
From water gods to anti-slavery heroines, Raphaël Barontini weaves together images to tell Black and Caribbean histories. By reworking materials from museum collections and historical archives, he brings forward stories that risk being silenced or forgotten.
Blending Yoruba masks, bats, Greco-Roman busts, and minerals, Barontini combined images from ROM’s collections and other sources to create this fantastical story in five parts.
Co-commissioned by the Toronto Biennial of Art and the Royal Ontario Museum and made possible with the generous support of Hatch, L’Institut français du Canada, and Mariane Ibrahim Gallery.
ROM wishes to acknowledge the generous support of Ruth Rogers. Unbound is also funded by Thinking Through the Museum, supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Bio
Bio
Raphaël Barontini
Raphaël Barontini was born in 1984 in Saint-Denis, France. He lives and works in Paris. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and at the Hunter College of Art in New-York.
Barontini prioritizes challenging the historical canon surrounding cultures and territories marked by slavery or colonisation. His approach invites the exploration of new imaginaries and narratives enriched by a pluralistic history. His paintings, flags, banners, tapestries and ceremonial capes question the representation of power, its rituals, and its carnivalesque inversion. The medium of portrait being its main field of exploration.
Barontini’s works have been presented internationally, in institutions such as Panthéon (Paris, France), Palais de Tokyo (Paris, France), SCAD Museum of Art (Savannah, USA), the Currier Museum of Art (Manchester, USA), Museum of Arts and Design (New York, USA), the New Art Exchange Museum (Nottingham, UK), Museum of African Diaspora (San Francisco, USA), Instituto Tomie Othake (Sao Paulo, Brasil), Museum Rietberg (Zurich, Switzerland), MAC VAL (Vitry-sur-Seine, France), MO.CO (Montpellier, France), MAMC (Saint-Etienne, France), Louvre-Lens (Lens, France), and Louvre-Abu-Dhabi (UAE), among others…Raphaël Barontini completed different residency programs in Jacmel (Haïti), Los Angeles (USA), New Orleans (USA – Villa Albertine) & Singapore with LVMH Métiers d’Art.
Barontini’s works are held in major collections worldwide, including the SCAD Museum of Art (USA), Columbus Museum of Art (USA), FLAG Art Foundation (USA), LVMH Métiers d’Art Collection (France), CNAP (France), MAC VAL (France), Musée des Abattoirs (France), Frac Réunion (France), Frac Poitou-Charentes (France), and Fondation FIMINCO (France).
Raphaël Barontini is represented by Mariane Ibrahim (Chicago, Paris, Mexico City).
Photo by Jalil Ourgeudi © Jalil Ourguedi. Image courtesy of the artist.
Location
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Accessibility
Royal Ontario Museum
Accessibility: Accessible entrance, washrooms, elevator, AODA compliant Building
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Getting There
Royal Ontario Museum
This fall, Free Main Floor returns with access to ROM’s expansive first-floor galleries—all for free! Advance tickets are preferred.
To book, click the ‘Book Tickets’ button on THIS webpage. Then, select the date you’d like to visit, and check the box for “Free Main Floor only.” On from September 25th to November 29th, 2026.In addition, get Free Admission to the entire museum during Third Tuesday Nights Free, 4pm – 8:30pm: October 20, November 27, December 15.
Parking: Limited Paid
TTC: Near Museum station, St. George station; 506 Carlton and 510 Spadina streetcars
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