African art was the stuff that one sees at the Metropolitan in New York – dark wood masks, dogs full of nails, gold jewellery, carved drums – or it was the junk one can buy at Mombasa airport. But in Paris I saw paintings that could have been done by a hip artist living in a loft in Brooklyn, or sculptures made out of plastic that could be seen in an elegant gallery in Berlin. I was stunned, and thrilled. The colours, the imagination, the subjects – I was definitely impressed. Of course I knew that interesting creative work was happening all over the world, but there seemed to be no way to find it, to see it. When I met Andre Magnin I realized that together we could put together a serious collection of contemporary African art. In my life, I love to make new discoveries: new music, new food, new technology, new art… the exhibition was a complete revelation to me. I wanted to explore my new discovery.