Goré, 22 November 2012
The founder of the Musée Dapper in Paris, Michel Leveau, passed away last Wednesday, age 81. Michel Leveau was found dead at his friends’ house in Goré, Senegal, where he was working on new exhibitions. The Musée Dapper wishes not to comment the circumstances of his death.
Michel Leveau was born on 30 November 1930 in Paris. He was trained as en engineer at Polytechnique and the École des Mines and later joined the Corps des Mines. Before founding the Musée Dapper in 1986 – named after German 17th century humanist Olfert Dapper, author of a Description of Africa in 1668, a continent which he never visited. Michel Leveau worked in Africa, mainly in Mali as a consultant for the Ministry of Industry of Senegal from 1960 to 1963. Later he managed the company Comilog, exploiting manganese mines in Africa. In Goré, former centre of the slave trade, Michel Leveau, wanted to organise two exhibitions: the first dedicated to African masks and a second, titled “Memories” – a contemporary art study on slavery.
The Musée Dapper is a space dedicated mainly to African and Carribean art and culture. Since its creation, it organised over forty exhibitions, as an expression of Michel Leveau’s keen interest in this part of the world.