Believe it or not, we met exactly ten years ago, in Venice, in front of Joana Vasconcelos’ unavoidable stainless steel pan shoe. I was loudly crying out something like ‘Art should be spiritual…’. She mercilessly interrupted me and the debate went on until morning. She’s doing a hell of a job in Zimbabwe, where she found love and a true cultural mission. An educator and a researcher, one of her passions is to support emerging and contemporary art. Valerie is the co-founder (in 2009) of First Floor Gallery in Harare, Zimbabwe’s first contemporary emerging artist run initiative, where she is the Director of Education and International Projects. This time we arranged to meet at Ivory Coast Pavilion, where were were welcomed by the warm intensity of the wonderful work of Koko Bi. See you soon, Val! Glad to meet, Koko Bi!