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Spearheading African creativity, the Dakar Biennale is back
El Hadj Malick Ndiaye, artistic director, poses in front of a work by Alioune Diagne, present in the international selection.
© RFI / Sébastien Jedor
Text by: Sébastien Jédor Follow
4 mins
Dakar once again becomes the capital of artists from Africa and the diaspora for a month.
Canceled two years ago because of the pandemic, the Biennial of Contemporary Art opens this Thursday, May 19.
Artists take over the Senegalese capital, with no less than 16 exhibitions in the official program and 450 events in the “Off” festival.
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From our special correspondent in Dakar,
"
Usually, here, there are only the birds that live
", confides a Dakar resident, speaking of the old courthouse of Cap Manuel, at the very end of the Cap-Vert peninsula, in overhanging the Atlantic.
But a few hours before the official opening, a swarm of creators and technicians took possession of the premises: hanging, lighting, cleaning, painting...
The
Biennale
is making a strong comeback and a qualitative leap.
If there are a few fewer artists, they will be much better exposed in the old courthouse where the ghosts of judges, lawyers, convicts who have succeeded one another here for years still circulate.
The Senegalese El Hadj Malick Ndiaye, artistic director, sets the scene for the international exhibition in these terms: "
We have major projects in the hall of the lost steps, in the courtrooms, but also more intimate spaces where the visitor, alone, can come into confrontation with the artist.
We give voice instead.
There is no partition in this great palace, but there are columns which interact with the monumental works on display
”.
The Cécile Fakhoury gallery in Dakar, where the works of Binta Diaw are exhibited.
© RFI / Sébastien Jedor
The old court, "an incredible place"
Among the artists who took over the premises, the South African Elrie Joubert, from the “Tripe” collective.
She uses recycled materials to weave like a gigantic tapestry.
“
It will be 3 meters wide and 7 meters high.
It's an incredible place, big and open, which we take possession of with the work
, ”says the one who made the trip from the Free State, in the center of South Africa.
The theme of the Dakar Biennale this year, “
I Ndaffa
”, means “
forging
” in the Serer language, one of the languages of Senegal.
Forging to invent or - at the very least - understand a new world.
"
We are in a great political, cultural, sociological, economic transition, etc.,
" says artistic director El Hadj Malick Ndiaye.
“
That's why we invite artists to tell us stories, to open windows and allow us to see far.
»
windows to the world
In Dakar, for one month, 2,500 artists effectively open a window on the world, if we take into account those present in the official selection and those of the “Off” festival.
From Keur Massar to the Plateau via the Almadies, any restaurant or cultural center must have its exhibition.
But it's the international galleries, like
the Cécile Fakhoury gallery
in the Plateau, that set the tone.
►Also listen: Tell me about it - Cécile Fakhoury and Cheikh Ndiaye, the new address for African art
Delphine Lopez, director of the Cécile Fakhoury gallery in Dakar, where the works of Binta Diaw are exhibited.
© RFI / Sébastien Jedor
Delphine Lopez has been the director since it opened 4 years ago and she confirms that in Dakar "
we feel a real energy, linked to the history of the city and the country, which have always had a policy of artistic patronage. institutional.
But there are also a lot of private initiatives that have emerged in Dakar over the past four or five years.
It's fantastic to see all these projects live and develop in their own way.
Between art galleries, collaborative spaces and artists' collectives, it's very rich.
»
Professionals assure us: after Nigeria, it is in French-speaking Africa that a new generation of collectors and art lovers is emerging.
►Also read: Senegal: the exhibition "Picasso in Dakar" sheds light on the artist's links with Africa
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