Impressions from the Biennale DAK'ART 2010 - contemporary African Art
The principal venues for the DAK'ART 2010 official programme were the National Gallery (La Galérie Nationale) and the National Museum (Le Musée National).
Carla reflects on her visit and says: "After the visit of the Biennale DAK'ART 2010, I have understood much better the explosiveness of contemporary African art which involves itself in an outstanding way with the existential questions today.
In the light of the overall framework of this manifestation, it seems we have reached a moment of collective consciousness about the fact that we need to understand culture - and arts as part of it - as one of the most important vectors of material and moral wellbeing and happiness of the individual. The following pictures should be viewed in this understanding as a synthetic and explemplary vision of this notion."
Here are some words taken from the introduction to the catalogue of the Biennale, by Gérard SENAC:
"For the second time, I am the President of the Biennale of African Art, in the year when it celebrates 20 years of its existence, in the country which itself celebrates the 50 years of its sovreignty. I consider this a great privilege and appreciate this fact in its full value...
"Under the aegis of its first President-Poet, Leopold Sedar Senghor, Senegal has early on given priority to Culture as one of the vectors of the material and moral well-being and happiness of the individual and has fortunately discarded a narrow vision of artistic expression as a priviledge for an elite, which had enriched itself in doubtful ways and was unproductive...
"In a world, which perceives Africa only through the deforming prism of misplaced pessimism, the resilience of the Biennale throughout these two decades ... is a strong signal emitted from our country, on a continent, where no other manifestation of this scale has been able to persist... "
Here the 'mottos' of the two Commissioners of the Biennale:
According to Rachida TRIKI:
"A desire for emancipation"
According to Kunle FILANI:
"Eliminate the obstacles to creativity and dry Obama's tears".
The images to the right show but very few examples of artistic approaches (all photos by Stefan Karkow).
Kiteng Banza MOURIDJA, born 1980 in the Democratic Republic of Congo presented her installation "Union of States - from 1848 to this Day", 2009. We show two partial views and the general overview to the right above.
Louis BASSENE, an up and coming Senegalese artist also selected to expose some of his works in Thailand shortly, showed 'Clandestine immigration' at DAK'ART 2010.
More information on a selection of participating artists is available at the website of the Biennale DAK'ART 2010. Click here to discover more.