Young Cameroonian Painter Joins World Bank in Fight Against Poverty.

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By Adamu Musa

A sample of artist Max Lyonga's inspiring paintings.  Click painting to enlarge.

Artist Max Lyonga at work.

Artist Max Lyonga with children of the street.

“My vision for our people is that of hope and it is my believe that if talented artists, musicians, writers, footballers and painters like myself join the World Bank in the fight against poverty we would achieve more success” says thirty-seven years old Max Sako Lyonga who has come up with what he describes as “an original idea” to help fight poverty in Cameroon.

“Our people go to the World Bank and other international financial institutions to ask for money because we are poor. Granted; but we should not encourage the world to continue treating us as poor and helpless people” says Lyonga who points out that he is out to showcase the positive side of Africa, its people and its rich culture.

Lyonga captures his ideas about fighting poverty on a large canvas painting with a sky-blue background which he says represents joy, happiness, hope and confidence in the future of the country. “When I conceived the idea of this painting I wanted to come up with something that would make a difference. The colors I used in this painting are happy colors” insists Lyonga. “When you look at the faces of the people on the painting, you notice that they are happy people. There is no face that is sad and the colors are appealing. This is the kind of Africa I see in my mind’s eye” concludes Lyonga.

Lyonga says it took him four months to come up with this painting which he entitled “An Artist’s World Free of Poverty.” To him, people should always strife to be happy and hopeful in spite of the circumstances because it is only by having a positive attitude and believing in ourselves that we can succeed in eradicating poverty.

Lyonga has been painting for fifteen years today and has been involved in many social and charitable works in his community. Last June, he organized an intensive one week training session for some eight street children. He thought them how to mix the primary colors, how to develop their ides, how to come up with a sketch. And much more “I instilled hope and confidence in the children and tried to make them understand that they would succeed in life if they left the streets and took up painting” he said.

His charitable works also include one of his paintings that sold at an auction sale for seven million cfa francs and he donated all of the money to help children suffering from HIV/AIDS in his native Buea..

Lyonga received no formal art education but his painting talent s were discovered by his primary school teacher, a certain Mr. Tanya who convinced his parents to encourage him in this direction. He began painting in the impressionist style and later met and worked with German tourists practicing abstract art which later became a dominant aspect of his work. His native Bakweri culture, the environment, social aspects of life, and intimate scenes and feelings dominate his artistic works which he expresses through abstraction and figurative works. Lyonga runs his personal exhibition center, the Coha Arts Gallery, in the southwest provincial capital of Buea. His works have won several national awards and as he proudly puts it, “only the sky is the limit of my ambition.”

Lyonga’s thought-provoking painting is conspicuously hanging in the Country Manager’s office and Markus Repnik, the CM takes great pride in introducing the painting and explaining what it symbolizes to his numerous visitors. In Markus’s words, “Lyonga is a key partner of the Bank in its work of fighting poverty in Cameroon and he deserves to be encouraged in this role as much as we can.”