To those who have made my life in Senegal richer

Emily Sambou with my children

I have just left Dakar, Senegal to move back to the United States.  The last two years in Senegal were very rich years and I wanted to publicly thank many of the local people who made a real impact on my life.  So let's pretend you have a glass of your favorite beverage and raise our virtual glasses to a few of the people. 

The first, is Emily Sambou, our housekeeper, who was sweet, conscientious and reliable.  Throughout our two years she made my life easier so I could make my art, organize events and be with my children.  I deeply appreciated her work.  As of today she is still looking for work, let me, contact me if you are interested hiring her.  So, here's a toast to her!



Bouboucar with my daughter and Tinkerbell

Next is Boubacar Seck, one of our gaurds who was consistently friendly while also professional. He helped me add a little Woolof to my vocabulary.  He and my daughter really hit it off too.   I raise my glass to you Boubacar.

And let's raise the glass again to Anne Marie, my tailor.  She studied and interned in fashion design in France.  She is incredibly talented and her skills made some smashing clothing.  Anne Marie herself is a joy to work with.  Pictured are a couple of the items she has made with my fabric designs.  A soft jacket made with my Roosters of New York fabric in Performance Knit and a party dress in Cotton Silk with two designs; Ghana Butterflies on Steel Blue on the top and Ghana Fantastic Floral Yellows on Steel Blue for the skirt. I will be sharing a couple of the African wax items she created in the future. 

Anne Marie would love to come to the US on a working vacation.  The idea is she trades tailoring for you for a plane ticket and a spare bedroom.  She designs and sews for you and your friends a few days and she tours and see the sites a few days.  Anne Marie speaks perfect English.  Contact her on Facebook if you are interested.  I am happy to recommend her. Thanks so much Anne Marie, I raise a glass to you.

 

A jacket made with my Roosters of New York design

party dress in cotton silk from my Ghana Floral Collection 

Next is my husband's tailor, Seydou Diallo.  Fabric is generally less expensive in Senegal and the tailors so good that one would be crazy not to get a couple of things made.  Seydou was also trained in France to tailor men's suits.  Here is my husband Joe proudly showing off his work.  And here's a glass to him.

I will miss all of the wonderful musicians I was honored to work with and get to know while organizing monthly house concerts with Dakar Music Appreciation Group but I will miss none more than Cheikha.  He is so personable and a terrific musician.  He stopped by on our last night to drop by a CD of his music.  Check him out.  He can play traditional and popular music.  He is very versatile and a pleasure to work with.  Here's a glass to Cheikha.

And lastly I raise a glass to all of the artists I have met, too many to mention, but a few have been profiled on this blog in the last few months.  It was an honor to be in Senegal during the Biennale.  I am thankful to have been able to work with you and wish you much success. 



Dakar Biennale

Fiber on fabric at the Terroubi Hotel

Every other year Senegal has an amazing celebration of the arts called the Biennale. This year the Biennale was May 9^th thru June 8th.  I managed to visit more than 20 exhibitions, only about 10% of the exhibits around Dakar.

The Biennale began in 1989 and began emphasizing visual arts in 1992 and sometimes is referred to as Dak’Art.  The goal of the Biennale is to promote contemporary art and raise the profile of African arts internationally.  This year’s theme, “Producing the Common,” is a nod to the world as a village idea and specifically looks at the intersection of art and politics attempting to examine issues that effect everyone.

painting by Barkinado Bocoum at IFANN

The Ministry of Culture and Francophonie of the Senegalese Republic selects curators who jury the main exhibits and those jurors selected the 61 artists from whom they have accepted works.  These official selections are known as ‘On’ exhibits.  Artists may also register to be listed with the “Off” exhibits in formal galleries and informal spaces, such as personal homes.  Artists may choose not to formally register but still show their works during this arts celebration and may be referred to as part of the “Off Off”. 



Bois Sacre arts of Benin at Librairie 4 Vents

As an artist, this has been something I have been looking forward to since I moved to Dakar.  The city has art in every nook and cranny.  It has been fun to run around with friends to view art, explore Dakar and get inspired. 

In the Biennale Village, I was thrilled to see the work of Amary Sobel Diop included in the official exhibit.  See my previous post on his work.  His work is technically very precise and some of the most understandable of the artwork included in the ON. 

Paul Sika illuminated photography at Foundation Total

painting by Arebenor at Biscuiterie

Some of my favorites were the exhibits at the Biscuiterie, Librairie 4 Vents, Foundation Total and IFANN.  The vernissage of Manel, Kon-T and Alioune Diange was entertaining with their Figuro Abscuro performance and the artwork of the the three artists really reflected their influences upon on another. Sadly, my camera was not working properly to record my visits to Valerie Hamez's studio and Place de Souvenir.

The one I wished I hadn't missed:  Kama Rosinska.  Her work is stunning and powerful.  Check it out.




 

Trashy Art

I am fortunate enough to live near the beach and take frequent walk within view of the ocean.  I also live in Senegal which means that unfortunately the view on those walks are marred by rubbish.  Sadly, many Senegalese drop their rubbish everywhere.  My children are disturbed by this also and so on one of our walks, I suggested that we pick up some of the trash and see if we can turn it into something beautiful. 

We picked up some interesting bits and washed and bleached them.  Many of the pieces can be seen on the green tray pictured above.  

We next prepared trays of gelatin (great instructions here.)  We used opaque and transparent textile paints and either painted our gelatin surfaces or objects and laid silk over surfaces.  We also utilized the ghost images.  Below is a series of some of the most interesting prints we created.  If you decide to do a project like this with your kids, make sure you have plastic gloves, aprons and clothes you are unworried about staining.  Clean up supplies should be close at hand as well.  

Mixed Media Senegal Style

This is my first work inspired by Suzi Blu's mixed media style and a trip to Goree Island.  I was introduced to the style in a swap-bot swap.  This picture is a mixture of paint, oil pastels, color pencil, ink, collaged paper and sequins on watercolor paper. 

15 Days of Senegal

Theme today is Red and my entry....

For those of you curious about life in Senegal, check out the photos posted on the 15 Days of Senegal group on Facebook that started yesterday.  It will provide plenty of visuals about life here in Senegal. 

Happy Holidays!

My holiday greetings to you, done in the style of Souwere (glass painting.)

“Souwere”

Goree Island scene 'floating' on glass with reclaimed wood frame

Souwere artist Abdoulaye Barry

 “Souwere” is glass painting.  There is an explaination of the process on the Senegal Soul blog.  I went to Goree island as a committee member of the Dakar Women's Group annual art show and visited with Abdoulaye Barry, a Senegalese Souwere artist who has been working in the genere since his youth.  M. Barry took us to a hotel/restaurant hosting his works and then took us to his small studio where he showed us works in progress and discussed the process of reverse glass painting. His art is distinctive for his landscapes of Goree island and his use of beach wood and reclaimed wood for his unusual and beautiful distressed wood frames. 

 

M Barry's work at the hotel  



 

Works in progress and our explaination of reverse glass painting at his studio

Senegal Reflections

Senegal is a feast for the senses in every way.  Living in downtown Dakar was definitely overwhelming but also very interesting and exciting.  We stayed in downtown August and September until we moved to a house in a quieter suburb.   The weather this time of the year is sweltering with humidity in the 80 – 90%.   On weekdays the streets begin to get crowded around 11 am and by noon the traffic is bumper to bumper.  There are small street vendors and beggars lined up on the sidewalks on every street.  It is loud with the sounds of the people speaking French, Wolof and Arabic, vendors hawking their wares and trying to gain attention and vehicles honking and slowly making their way through traffic. We could even hear the noise from our apartment on the 6th floor.  There are strong smells of diesel, trash, food, and people.
 Traditional Senegalese food is strongly flavored with peanuts, fish, peppers and onion flavors.  So far I have only tasted a chicken and onion dish called Yassa Poulet.  It was good.  When we get a car, I hope to be able to sample other selections.  Fast food dishes popular in America are popular here as well.  Almost every café and tea house sell hamburgers and the Senegalese version of pizza.  Schwarma, a pulled meat wrap/pita with a kind of curry like sauce, are also a popular cafe food item.  A surprise to me was the number of bakeries selling fancy pastries, quiches, ice cream and chocolate.  The ice cream and quiches are as good as in any artisanal bakery in the US.  
One thing that really captivated me is the Senegalese fashion sense.  It is diverse and they wear Western style, traditional African and Arabic clothing.  Some women cover their hair, some do not.  It appears to be up to the individual.  Here are some photos from local fashion magazines.  As you can see, Senegalese love color and embroidery and the top row of pictures are of fancy dress.    The men in the top row are wearing 'boubous.'  Brightly colored wax prints are popular for daily wear as seen in the bottom row on the left and right. The women’s outfits are known as a 'complet.' Tradional clothing for casual wear by women could be western or a 'pagne' which is a sarong style skirt of fabric (usually the wax block print) with a western style shirt, such as a t-shirt.  Senegalese also have a sense of humor in thier dress; yesterday I saw a woman in the market with a dress with garden sprinklers printed on it.