Republic of Senegal One People - One Ailm - One Dedication
Ministery of Culture and listed Heritage General Secretariat for the Art Biennial of Dakar
PRESS FILE
[email protected] http://www.dakart.org Tel : (00 221) 823 09 18 Fax : (00 221) 821 16 32 19, avenue Albert Sarraut B.P 3845 - CP 18524 Dakar-Sénégal
2004 7 - JUNE 7 CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART MAY
THE BIENNIAL OF
TH
TH
PRESS
Sylviane DIOP Chairs the Committee for communication
(00 221) 684 19 06
Baba DIOP General coordination
(00 221) 637 42 35
Alassane CISSE Technical adviser
(00 221) 680 12 41
Hawa Ba MARA Coordination / Logistics
(00 221) 536 98 18
Mamadou BIAYE Dak’art Infos Publication
(00 221) 637 92 48
Marième SELLY KANE Coordination / TV, radio
( 00 221) 652 75 10
Massamba MBAYE / Stéphanie AMIOT Coordination / chairs the Press
(00 221) 635 70 37
LISTS
[email protected]
2
SYNOPSIS
The biennial of contemporary african art, Dak’Art 2004 Historical background
p 04 p 05
Dak’Art 2004, the highlights
p 06
The official Selection, Dak’art 2004
p 07
International Exhibition Salon for Design
p 08/09 p 10/11
Individual Exhibitions Curator : Yacouba KONATE Curator : Ivo MESQUITA Curator : Hans Ulrich OBRIST
p p p p
Meetings and Exchange
p 19/20
Dak’Art_lab / volume1
p 21/22
Design Workshop
p 23
A Tribute to Iba Ndiaye DJADJI
p 24
DAK’ART OFF
p 25
Appendices
p 26
Partners of DAK’ART 2004 Organization International Selection Committee Statistics
p p p p
12 13/14 15/16 17/18
27 28 29 30
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THE BIENNIAL OF
THE BIENNIAL OF
CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART in Dakar known as DAK'ART is the only event of note in the continent to consecrate its selection in particular to living artists in and outside the continent.
CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART,
DAK’ART
ORGANIZATION DAK'ART, the Biennial for the contemporary african Art is placed under the supervision of the Senegalese Ministry of Culture.The General Secretary is the executor.
In twelve years of existence, it has enabled artists: - To valorize the creation of new models in the field of Arts. - To confirm or to show talents better in the world of visual arts and in that of design and digital arts. - To create new approaches in the definition and the conceptual view of contemporary Art in Africa. - To show to a large audience coming from everywhere in the world a creative and innovative African people . - To create new parnerships among African creators on the one hand and among African creators and those of other continents on the other hand. The biennial is created thanks to the will of both the Senegalese state which assumes the supervision and the local artists who since the seventies have been organizing regular annual art exhibitions regularly which bring to light the different kinds of art and the evolution of contemporary arts. The aim was to make of it a show-window of Art in Africa. After two editions, the decision was made to consecrate the event exclusively to visual arts and to design with a small-scale exhibition in textiles and upholstery. Nowadays, digital Arts are found in DAK'ART. The annual art exhibition on tapestry and textiles is no longer a part of the biennial of Art.
For an efficient organization of the event, the General Secretary of the Biennial is assisted by the Scientific Council which proposes the guidelines and the content of each edition of the biennial. The Scientific Council consits of independent personalities who are well known due to their competence in the field of Arts. (cf . supplement ).
PROGRESS AND
INNOVATION
DAK'ART, is in fact, devoted to contemporary African art. Its mission is to fit out and to consolidate a framework of promotion for African artists in the continent. DAK'ART, during the last editions, has proved its capacity to keep creativity, to favour exchange and the discovery, a necessity for a new position of the artists and their works on the international scene. DAK'ART, beyond the political will which animates it, is also the result of a convergence of collective adhesion to it which has never stopped despite the 1994 vacuum.
4
THE
1992, the first edition of the biennial of arts after that of 1990 dedicated to Letters, is an important landmark for new readjustments in several levels.Two essential options will be source of, a new configuration for the Biennial of Dakar in order to meet theexperts recommendations and the expectations of the artistic community.The biennial remains reserved for contemporary Art. It is devoted to the promotion of African contemporary inventivity. The structures which are in charge of preparing and organizing the biennial are revised for a better adjustment to the new option: the Preparatory National Committee is replaced by a Scientific Council.
1996, the new tested scheme enables to State the identity of the biennial and better show professionals, the quality and diversity of a contemporary artistic production worthy of interest. At the same time DAK'ART puts at a prominent position the pertinency of african criticism and its ability to bring a significant contribution to thought on contemporary art production within the professional meetings. In this same year, the annual art exhibition on African design and that of upholstery and textiles appeaed at the Biennial of Dakar. It is the time to pay tribute to the late Mohamed KACIMI from Morroco and Moustapha DIME from Senegal that fate had brought together in the individuals exhibitions of this year.
1998 has the opportunity to confirm the interest of such an option and to introduce, under the pressure of a persistent demand, the Market of Visual African Arts (MAPA). The Diaspora is equally present for the individual exhibitions and textile creativity becomes part of the annual art exhibition of African design.Finally it is the very year when many artists from South Africa and Ivory Coast were part of the official selection.
2000 is undoubtedly the finishing touch of an exemplary experience, that of the General Secretary of the Biennial of Dakar, Rémi SAGNA and a united team. The Chairman of the Scientific Council namely Ousmane SOW HUCHARD was about to leave the job to Sylvain SANKALE, the new Chairman of the Scientific Council. The year 2000 marks the will of private business enterprise to be involved more in the Biennial by organizing a series of events related to the environment, which later will be known as DAK'ART OFF. It is about individual or collective exhibitions organized by gallery owners or artists.
STORY OF
DAK’ART
2002, the tenth anniversary of DAK'ART. A few innovations take place: -
the renunciation of MAPA (The Market of African Visual Art).
the choice of the International Center of Foreign Trade in Senegal to host the international Exhibition up to now took place in the Museum of African Art which is in Soweto square. The opening of individual exhibitions to artists who don't belong to Africa and its Diaspora. The broadening of the spaces for meetings and exchange for the digital arts and for urban aesthetics. The widening of environmental events (DAK'ART OFF) followed up and valorized in a special commission created by the General Secretary to recoup more visibility for aver a hundred events in Dakar and its vicinity. The organization off events on private business places in the interior of the country (St Louis, Ziguinchor, and Thies).
2004, is the sixth edition whose artistic contents is put into the hands of the professionals of the art world. The conference "Meetings and Exchange" has a topic "Contemporary African Art and globalization: problems, possibilities and prospects".
DAK'ART 2004, there are thirty three artists and five designers selected who come from sixteen African countries, three curators presenting eighteen artists from Africa, the diaspora and the world.
DAK'ART 2004, there are equally meetings and questions about digital arts, about urban aesthetics, about the cultural places emerging in Africa... DAK'ART 2004, there are eventually exhibition spots which transform Dakar into the capital of contemporary Art.
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DAK’ART 2004, HIGHLIGHTS
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION SALON
FOR
DESIGN
INDIVIDUAL EXHIBITIONS MEETINGS AND EXCHANGE Environmental events staging all private initiatives organized in group or individually.
DAK'ART_LAB /
VOLUME
1
WORKSHOPS 6
THE SELECTION
"The International Exposition of the 2004 Dak’Art Biennial of Contemporary African Art will be a dynamic, truly contemporary and pan-African exhibition. This experience will showcase thirty three artists and five designers from sixteen countries, exhibiting ninety-four works. The International Exposition includes a wide range of expressive strategies, from painting, to installation, to performance art, to sculpture, to video art and interactive media. While its scope transverses generations, a significant number of the artists are from younger generations. Fifteen artists are women and eighteen are men. The International Selection Committee was made up of a majority of African curators and critics, with the addition of individuals from Canada, France and Austria. We set criteria that we refined throughout the seven-day selection and two-day exhibition planning process.
Did the artist’s creative vision ring out through the work? Was it fresh? Was the work resonant with a sense of place, with the local and specific? Were the formal and conceptual strategies those of contemporary Africa? Could the art speak to a pan-African audience? Would international audiences engage with the artists’ works? "
Extrait du texte: “ La Sélection officielle” par Sara Diamond Présidente du Comité International de Sélection 21 décembre 2003.
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PLACE : THE CICES
The International Center for foreign Trade in Senegal is located at the end of the Voie de dégagement Nord (VDN), a trunk road which equally leads to the airport. The architectural achievement of the various buildings gets its inspiration from a harmonious synthesis between an original undertaking and a decoration in which african Art has widely participated.The architectural design is the work of a young French team. Six Senegalese painters have invested funds to achieve coloured compositions like the themes of low reliefs depicting the walls of concrete. The site was inaugurated in July 1986. It is reserved for staging international fairs. But in 2002, the Biennial staged the exhibitions of the official selection there . The big stands at CICES give inequabled possibilities for arrangement.
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I NTERNATIONAL E XHIBITION PLACE : CICES / VERNISSAGE SCENOGRAPHY : EL HADJ SY
OF AFRICAN ARTISTS
SCHEDULED FOR MAY
South Africa (5) . Thando Mama . Gregg Smith · Mgicineci Sobopha · Doreen Southwood · Sue Williamson Algeria (2) · Samta Benyahia · Zoulikha Bouabdellah Benin (1) · Pélagie Gbaguidi Cameroon (2) · Isaac Essoua dit Malam · Achillekà Komguem Congo Brazzaville (2) · Bill Kouelany · Gaston Massamba M'Bongo Democratic Republic of Congo (1) · Michèle Magema Egypt (5) · Amal el Kenawy & Abd El Ghany El Kenawy · Hala Elkoussy · Khaled Hafez · Maha Maamoun · Moataz M. Nasr
7
TH
AT
11.30 AM
Ethiopia (2) · Assefa Gebrekidan · Elias Sime Ivory Coast (1) · Azieman Louis-Marcel Wanoumi Madagascar (1) · Jeriarimanjato Razafindranaivo Morroco (2) · Asmae Lahkim Bennani · Younes Rahmoun Nigeria (2) · Toyin Loye · Toyosi Odunsi Senegal (5) · Aïcha Aïdara · Bassirou Dieng dit Diégo · Fatoumata Kandé Senghor · Cheikh Niass · Mohamadou N'Doye dit Douts Togo (1) · Sokey Edorh Tunisia (1) · Fatma Charfi
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PLACE : DOUTA SECK HOUSE CULTURE
The sponsor of this Douta SECK Hall was a famous comedian in theater and cinema. Conceived before the years of independence, the current hall was the palace of the deputy-governor of Dakar. After the years of independence it became the residence of the President of the Council. Then, from 1962 to 1996, it was used to welcome the Republic’s hosts of note before President Abdou DIOUF decided to grant it to the Ministry of Culture in order to transform it into a place as a tribute to women and men of culture. It has already welcomed individual exhibitions for the biennial of dakar. Its interior grounds lined with high trees of rare species causes the place to be an area propitious to thought and creation. The house is in the populous district of Medina.
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S ALON
FOR THE
D ESIGN
PLACE : DOUTA SECK HALL VERNISSAGE SCHEDULED FOR MAY 8 SCENOGRAPHY : EL HADJ SY
TH
AT
16.00
PM
Algeria (1) Mohamed Yahyaoui dit Yamo · Cameroon (1) · Jules Bertrand Wokam Mali (2) · Madeleine Bomboté · Cheick Diallo Togo (1) · Amivi Homawoo
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INDIVIDUAL EXHIBITIONS
The Biennial of Dakar gives the opportunity to curators in charge of the exhibitions who are selected around the world for their notorious surveys in the field of contemporary Art to choose freely the artists they consider as bearers of an artistic school full of promise, to come and show their works during the DAK'ART events. The curators for this sixth edition are three. Hans Ulrich OBRIST is an Art critic and a curator for the Museum of Modern Art in the city of Paris. He has identified eleven American, English, Chinese, French, Italian, Portorican and Swedish artists and has invited them to come and exhibit their works within the individual exhibitions. Ivo MESQUITA is an independent curator and the director of the Museum of Modern Art in Sao Paulo. He has urged three artists among whom two Americans and a Bresilian to display their works. Yacouba KONATE is a curator and a philosophy teacher at the university of Cocody in Abidjan ( Ivory Coast ). He has chosen to show the works of three artists : one Ivorian, one Zimbabwean and one Cameroonian. The curators are the only judges of their choices. The Individual Exhibitions are an open window towards the other continents. They allow visitors and specialists to be aware trends and opinions on contemporary art wordlwide.
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PLACE : THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART
The management of the National Gallery of Art is incumbent upon the ministry of Culture. Its mission is the promotion of Senegalese artists. It is interested in both young and committed artists.It also welcomes foreign exhibitions. The National Gallery has been entirely restored. It has good air-conditioning, its big glazed bay gives it a comfortable brightness. The site overlooks Albert Sarraut Avenue in downtown Dakar. The building of the National Gallery also accomodates the seat of the General Secretariat of the Biennial.The gallery was inaugurated on January, 29th 1983 by the President of the Republic, M. Abdou DIOUF. The place will welcome the works of the artists selected by Yacouba Konaté
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C URAT OR : YACOUBA K ONATÉ PLACE : THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART VERNISSAGE
.
SCHEDULED FOR MAY
Tapfuma Gutsa
Zimbabwe
8
TH
AT
18.00
PM
Born in Zimbabwé, 1956 Lives and works in Zimbabwé
. Christian Lattier Ivory Coast
1925 - 1978 ivory Coast
. Joseph Francis Sumégné Cameroon
Born in Cameroon, 1951 Lives and works in Cameroon
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PLACE : THE MUSEUM
OF
IFAN
The Museum of Black Africa’s Fundamental Museum ( IFAN) occupes Soweto Square just opposite the National Assembly. It was built in 1931 in a typically sudano-sahelian model. The building has welcomed the general administration for French West Africa (FWA). It is one of the best museums in West Africa with three hundred art objects displayed among the twelve thousand ones that the museum possesses. The ground-floor is reserved for arts and traditions; the second floor for the statuary. Since 1993, the museum has been extended with the building of an edifice which is more modern welcoming temporary exhibitions of modern Art. For several editions the Biennial had used it as a place which welcomed the International Exhibition. This year the curator Ivo MESQUITA has particularly consecrated it to display the works of the artists he has chosen.
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C URAT OR : I VO M ESQUITA PLACE : LE MUSÉE VERNISSAGE
DE L’IFAN
SCHEDULED FOR MAY
9
TH
AT
17.00
PM
. José Bédia Cuba
Born in Havana, Cuba, 1959 Lives and works in Miami, U.S.A
. Mario Cravo Neto Brazil
Born in Salvador, Bahia, Brasil, 1947 Lives and work in Salvador, Bahia www.cravoneto.com.br
. Odili Donald Odita Nigeria
Born in Enugu, Nigeria, 1966. Lives and works in Tallahasee, U.S.A www.odilidonaldodita.com
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PLACE : FORMER LAW-COURT
Today, the law-court has been put to another use and is located near Cap Manuel which is named after Manuel III, the king of Portugal ( from 1495 to 1521 ). It was inaugurated on December, 20th 1958 by the High Commissioner of the French Republic in French West Africa ( FWA ) M Pierre Messmer. It was designed by the architect Robert Boy. The room of wandering steps with its marble colonnade is lit during the day by the softened light of a central patio which gives it the mysterious atmosphere of a cave. The esplanade which stretches behind the law-court towers over Cap Manuel and its steep cliffs. Hans Ulrich Obrist, the curator of the Individual Exhibition has chosen the room of wandering steps in order to display his works and his artists. In 2000 the place welcomed the works of Jannis Kounellis, Jaume Plensa and Franz West.
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C URAT OR : H ANS U LRICH O BRIST PLACE : FORMER LAW-COURT VERNISSAGE
SCHEDULED FOR MAY
10
TH
AT
17.00
PM
. Doug Aitken Etats-Unis / U.S.A
. Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla Etats-Unis / U.S.A
. Trisha Donnelly Etats-Unis / U.S.A
. Yang Fudong Chine / China
. Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster France / France
. Carsten Höller Allemagne / Germany
. Isaac Julien Royaume-Uni / United Kingdom
. Multiciplicity Italie / Italy
. Philippe Parreno France / France
. Anri Sala Albanie / Albania
. Rirkrit Tiravanija Thaïlande / Thailand
. Anton Vidokle Etats-Unis- Russie / U.S.A- Russia
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MEETINGS AND EXCHANGE Emeka Udemba (official selection, Dak’art 2002) Award : Coopération Française Dak’Art 2002
MODERATOR :
AMINATA DIAW CISSÉ
PARTICIPANTS :
Odile Blin Sara Diamond Bernadette Dufrêne Thierry Dufrêne Guadalupe Echevarria Okwui Enwezor Bastien Gilbert Thelma Golden Krydz Ikwuemesi Kinsey Katchka Yacouba Konaté Jacques Leenhardt Nathalie Magnan Ivo Mesquita Barbara Murray Hans Ulrich Obrist Sylvain Sankalé Ola Bisi Silva Abdou Sylla Cédric Vincent
PLACE : CICES / OPENING
SCHEDULED FOR MAY
8
TH
AT
09.30 AM 19
MEETINGS AND EXCHANGE
“CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART
PUT TO THE TEST OF GLOBALIZATION
The sixth edition of the biennial,an important event which has been celebrated for more than a decade, shows the vitality of the institution and its promises for the future. However, thinking of the future of the Dakar Biennial can only focus on its aptness to take into account the context of globalization. As J. Ibrahim says, globalization presents a world of circulation with moving things, including ideas, ideologies, people and goods, images and messages, technology and techniques; The natural trend for cultural standardization and hegemony which globalization brings about seems to be paradoxically contemporary to the abundant expression of cultural diversity. How does African contemporary artistic inventivity account for this tension ? What are the new prospects which are presented to it ? What are the possibilities that such a context which is also that of globalization in Africa can have upon it ? It is obvious that these various questions should help us think about the subject matter of an African biennial for contemporary art and about its consolidation. Elsewhere, the obsolescence of all representations of the world combined to the event of the new information and communication technology forecast a digital civilization which poses to contemporary African artistic inventivity the challenge of new supports, new tools etc... : - How to
:
PROBLEMS, POSSIBILITIES AND PROSPECTS.”
conceive the aesthetic innovation which looms ahead with its digital arts ? Usually, thinking about contemporary artistic inventivity in the context of globalization can't ignore criticism production on modern Art. What critical endogeneous production to have in order to follow contemporary African creativity ? How can the latter bring more explanations on the artist's works and on the evolution of aesthetics ? The conference will essentially be centered on four points: IIIIII-
Globalization, cultural diversity and artistic inventivity. African contemporary art and digital aesthetics. Which criticism for contemporary african Art.
These three topics will be discussed during the first three part-time workshop. The last half-time will be devoted to a discussion forum on the question of the biennial of contemporary Art in Africa from an introductory text.
Aminata Diaw Cissé Maître Assistant à l’Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar. Département de Philosophie.
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DAK’ART_LAB /
VOLUME1
MODÉRATORS : SYLVIANE DIOP SARA DIAMOND KAREN DERMINEUR PARTICIPANTS :
PLACE : CICES / OPENING
Stéphane d’Almeida Joey Berzowska Odile Blin Sergio Brito Annie Cheneau-Losquay Yves Codjia Nina Czegledy Viyé Diba Gabriel Djivo Edoardo Donatini Wayne Dunkley Juan Espino Lucie Falque-Vert Magüi Gonzalez Hildegard Hahn Candice Hopkins Lalunanegra Massimo Luconi Fatoumata Kandé Senghor Nathalie Magnan Ismaila Manga Camille Turner Cheryl l’Hyrondelle Waynatokeh Ousmane Wilane
SCHEDULED FOR MAY
9
TH
AT
10.00 AM 21
DAK’ART_LAB /VOLUME1 The laboratory of Art and Technology which is known as DAK'ART_Lab has been set up as a platform for meetings between scientists, technicians and artists who are interested in the development of digital art, in order to bring together their expertise and thereby create a synergy which can lead to new applications for information processing tools and to plan its metamorphosis in view of appropriating it better. DAK'ART wants to be the incubator of artistic projects, the place of confrontation and exchange of experience, of collaboration and of reflection with the good will of taking part in the future progress changes in digital art and in its tools. DAK'ART will enable the setting up of web sites for artists in order to favour a remarkable presence of artists from the African continent on the scene. Some projects are already planned by DAK'ART LAB, as a technical project focussing on the design of a video game. DAK'ART_LAB is a project which can be found within the General Secretariat of the Biennial of Arts in Dakar
22
From September 20th to October 11th of 2003, the Biennial of African Contemporary Art, Dak'Art and the International Design Biennial of Saint-Etienne reach a new stage in the consolidation of a dynamic partnership: workshops were organized in Dakar between two biennial gathering African and French designers. Beyond relations between the organizing institutions, this meeting presented a lot of interest. Nineteen designers of ten African countries were in a situation of research, exchange and production and joined by three designers teaching at the Fine Arts School of Saint-Etienne. Three weeks of meeting around individual projects, reflection on the steps, confrontation with a particular environment, adaptation to the materials that the medium offers, mutual assistance and relation with the local company allowed without any doubt a mutual enrichment. The results of these works will be presented at Dak'Art 2004, then in Saint-Etienne. They express a quality of proposal which deserves a particular attention, but they however reveal real constraints to the expression and the promotion of the Design in Africa. Under these constraints, it is undoubtedly allowed to quote those related on the absence of structures of formation in the field of Design, to the absence of articulation between industry and Design projects, to the inexistence of structures of promotion and diffusion of Design products. Consultants Anouk Schoellkopf, philosophe, France (rédaction des publications) Jean-François Evrard, vidéaste, France (réalisation et montage document audio-visuel) Michel Bouisson, VIA Paris, France, chargé de la diffusion et communication du projet, observateur, Président Fondateur de l'association Made In Afrique. Partners Ministère de la Culture et du Patrimoine historique classé du Sénégal Biennale des Arts de Dakar, Dak'Art 2004 Ville de Saint-Etienne, France Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Etienne 2004 AFAA et Programme Afrique en Créations, Ministère des Affaires Etrangères, France UNESCO, Design 21 et Felissimo
DESIGN
WORKSHOP
PLACE : DOUTA SECK HALL VERNISSAGE
SCHEDULED FOR MAY
Kossi Assou Togo Madeleine Bomboté Mali Jean-Marc Bonnard France Marcela Costa Angola Cheick Diallo Mali Aïssa Dione Senegal Mervyn Dowman South Africa Balthazar Faye France Aboubacar Fofana Mali Ralph Gallagher Zimbabwe
8
TH
AT
16.00
PM
Fasil Giorghis Ethiopia Laurent Hatégékimana Rwanda Claire Kane Senegal Christophe Marx France Auro Nalla Ndiaye Senegal Vincent Niamien Ivory Coast Valérie Oka Ivory Coast Dominique Pétot Senegal Casse Cace Rui Valente Mozambica
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A TRIBUTE PLACE : CICES / OPENING
TO IBA
NDIAYE DJADJI
SCHEDULED FOR MAY
13
TH
AT
10.00 AM
Iba Ndiaye Diadji was an art critic, professor of Aesthetics at the Ecole Normale Supérieure of Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar and Secretary General of the Confederation of independent Trade Unions (CSA ). He is the author of several publications on contemporary Art in Africa, the last of which entilted: "Creating the Art of the Africans: aesthetical landmarks and prospects for modern inventivity" and was about to publish two others. Since 1996, Iba Ndiaye Diadji was in charge of the"Meetings and Exchange" of our biennial event whose next edition he was actively preparing when, on november 10th, 2003, he passed away, all to early...
Diversity and contemporaneity, identity and globalization, here are some of the issues that greatly interested Iba Ndiaye Diadji. In his last publication, contemporary african Art is subjected to an in-depth analysis as well as digital arts to which he has devoted numerous papers and lectures.
Between the eminent professor, the trade-union leader and the famed Art critic, history will retain his commitment to Art. He was uncompromising in his analysis of artistic productions and did not agree with the various theories developed around such productions. As an art critic, Iba Ndiaye Diadji had resolutely decided to stay away from two approaches that in no way contribute in keeping up and encouraging creativity in Africa. He was deeply convinced that the patterns and instruments for analysis hitherto applied to account for African creativity were not appropriate as all too often copied on European models whereas their conditions of production or cultural environment were quite different. Such a vision feeds more on stereotypes than on genuine inner thinking. As to the other approach, it was rather too lenient towards Africans productions.
Iba Ndiaye Diadji was a member of the International Association of Art Critics, Chairmain of the Seminars of the Dak'Art Biennial on contemporary african Art, a member of the Biennial's Scientific Council, President of African Association "Relais Sud". Author of numerous articles on aesthetics, african Art cultures of various origines, art and science, education or general art critic in such academic and specialized reviews as: Ethiopiques, Liens-ENS,Annales USL, Convergences, Présence Africaine...he was also been an active coordinator and participant in numerous workshops, seminars and conferences on Art, aesthetics, society issues, the input of new technology, African renaissance, critical analysis in Paris, Montreal, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Ottawa, Tunis, Rabat, Ouganda, Rabat, Ouagadougou, Conakry, Dakar, Brazzaville…
It is to that man who was in charge of the meetings and exchanges section of our biennial during the last three editions of the DAK'ART, who had participated, within the scientific council, in shaping up the outline and contents of this sixth edition by confronting his vision of contemporary african Art with those of other world specialists in visual arts, that the Dakar Biennial wishes today to pay tribute to.
BIOGRAPHY
24
DAK’ART OFF
The Biennial of Contemporary African Art, in its evolution, has brought about the development of collective and individual initiatives which are shown through the artistic projects submitted in many sites. As opposed to the official program of the Biennial, we have chosen the concept DAK'ART OFF to name them. About fifty events in 2000, DAK'ART OFF recorded more than a hundred twenty exhibitions in 2002. At the beginning, some artists considered a participation outside the areas bringing together the artists selected or invited by the Biennial of Dakar as a form of marginalization. The attitude has changed a lot since then with a widely shared awareness to take advantage of the pretext which DAK'ART constitutes in order to be present as an artist, through the presentation of collective or individual projects. It is in this manner that a more unflagging attention is given to the expression of the foreign and African creativity presented within the environmental events. From 2000, these activities have been put in the program of the Biennial to give them all the visibility they deserve. The same attention will be enforced again in 2002. Indeed, the Scientific Council of DAK'ART 2004 has ended in considering them as being part and parcel of the Biennial and at the same time, they are telling owing to thei obvious dynamism of the sector and to an artistic proposition capacity of a remarkable quality. A Committee has been set up to gather the majority of the projects submitted to the General Secretariat, to present them in a booklet and an identification sheet specially set aside to display them and facilitate their localization. For the next edition of the Biennial, a lot of projects have been reckoned up and some of them are in charge of professionals who are fully aware of the importance and open-mindedness of DAK'ART. To name a few examples, curators Sala Hassan and Orlando Britto Jinorio will respectively introduce African, American and Spanish artists. Collective exhibitions of artists projects who are from the Canaria Islands, the Republic of Guinea, the Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Nigeria, Italy etc… have been recorded offthe exhibitions announced by the owners of galleries, firms and local companies. The OFF of DAK'ART is also the occupation of various places ( cultural centers, bars, restaurants, residences, theatres, banks, streets etc.. ) It is finally the opportunity for populations to meet the contemporary creativity with the both in work places and the residences. Over one hundred thirty events will make of Dakar the true capital of visual arts. DAK'ART OFF is becoming internationalised and through its development it invites to greater quality of the IN contents more and more.
25
APPENDICES
Partners of DAK’ART 2004 Organization Selection Committee Statistics
p p p p
26
27 28 29 30
PARTNERS
Union Europeenne Agence Intergouvernementale de la Francophonie Ministère du Tourisme du Sénégal Ville de Dakar Fondation Prince Claus Africalia Ambassade du Canada The Banff Centre et le New Media Institute, Banff Communauté Française de Belgique et de Région Wallonie La Fondation Sonatel Jean-Paul Blachère, actions africaines Association Française d'Action Artistique / Programme Afrique en Créations Ville de Saint-Etienne (France) Biennale de Design de Saint-Etienne RTS RFI Lune Bleue Gobierno de Canarias Ministerio de Asuitos Exteriores de Espana Camaras Canarias Gabinete Literario Polykrome Top Pneus Le site web www.au-senegal.com Le site web www.africainformarket.org Ambassade d’Espagne Elton La Poste du Sénégal Senvision Air France Fougerolle Lieu Unique de Nantes (France) Le site web africa2005.com
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ORGANIZATION
GENERAL SECRETARY
SCIENTIFIC
General Secretary: Ousseynou Wade
President :
Victor-Emmanuel Cabrita
Members
Isabel Rodriguez Alonso Alioune Badiane Joëlle le Bussy Fal Viyé Diba Aïssa Dione Baba Diop Mamadou Traoré Diop Sylviane Diop Mauro Pétroni Issa Samb Sahite Sarr Samb Diamé Signaté Jean-CharlesTall
Collaborators
: Mohamed Dieng Assane Diop Aïssatou S.Diouf Youma Fall Aïcha Ngom Maïmouna Niasse Danie Pierre Abdourahmane Sy
:
COUNCIL
TECHNICAL COMMITTEES General control Accreditations Communication Exhibitions Finances Accomodation Substructures Logistics Off Merchandising Meetings and Exchange
: : : : : : : : : : :
Youma Fall Danie Pierre Sylviane Diop El Hadj Sy Moussa Sène Maïmouna Niasse Abou Bekrine Gueye Aïssatou S.Diouf Mauro Pétroni Joëlle le Bussy Fal Aminata Diaw Cissé
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INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE
OF SELECTION
Meskerem Assegued
Exhibition Curator and since 2002 Director of the contemporary art center "Zoma Contemporary Art Centre" in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. Mrs Assegued is holder of a Masters of Art in cultural Antropology
Emma Bedford
Exhibition Curator in IZIKO: National gallery in Cap town, South Africa. Writer of many papers in several art magazines. Has been a curator for Africa and the African diaspora at the Venice biennial edition of 2003. She is currently involved in the artistic and cultural life of South Africa.
Thomas Boutoux
He lives in Paris where he works as an art critic and independent curator. He is a regular contributor to magazines including Flash Art and Domus. He is the editor of the first volume of Hans Ulrich Obrist’s interviews (HUO interviews V.1, 2003) published by La fondazione Pitti, Immagine Discovery and Charta Editions. He is a PHD candidate in Anthropology at l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, and a researcher affiliated to the GTMS (Genèse et Transformations des Mondes Sociaux)
Sara Diamond
She is Director of Research and Artistic Director Media and Visual Art, The Banff Centre. Holding degrees in Communications, History and Interactive Media, she is a curator, artist, professor and researcher in the field of new media culture and technology. She founded the international Banff New Media Institute in 1995. It is dedicated to art and science discovery and collaborates with institutions around the world. The Banff Centre holds summits in curatorial practice, new media and visual arts, creating exchanges between artists, critics, curators, scientists, and technologists as well as supporting residencies. Diamond has also contributed to the development of Canadian cultural industries and policies.
Docteur Gerald Matt
Since 1996 Director of the museum of contemporary art "Kunsthalle Wien" In Viennna, Austria. Dr Matt is an Art historian . He studied Law and Art economics. He is the author of several publications on contemporary art, especially in "Kultur und Geld".
Didier Pierre Schaub
Co-founding Art Director of the contemporary art center "l'Espace Douarl'art" which has for 12 years been the only one contemporary art center in Cameroon. Since 2000 he is in charge of visual arts for the Inter-régional programme PROCULTURE for the European Union of Central Africa. He is an exhibition curator and consultant for the European Union in the central African area. He has been granted a diploma by the Art institute, l'ICART-Paris. He is also a holder of a Masters in Management.
Victor-Emmanuel Cabrita Ousseynou Wade
Chairman of the Scientific Council of DAK'ART 2004. Secretary General of the Dakar Biennial of Arts.
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STATISTICS DAK’ART 2004 SELECTION
* Collective files are counted like only one file ** 3 artists presented works for both International Exhibition & Salon for Design
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