Marie-Claire Messouma Manlanbien was born in 1990 in Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire) and shares both a West African and French Caribbean heritage. She trained at Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts Paris-Cergy from which she was awarded both her BA and MA, the latter in 2016.

Her work was spotted early on by curator Ami Barak who selected her for the 61e Salon de Montrouge in 2016. Since then, it has been noticed and included in group exhibitions by a roaster of international trailblazing curators such as: Eva Barois de Caevel for Maëlle Galerie, Paris, France; Giulia Casalini for Cuntemporary.org with the support of the Art council England; Julie Crenn (for the ici.gallerie Belleville and for Transpalette, Bourges; both France), Inti Guerrero for the 38e Biennial EVA International, Limerick, Irland.