Dispatch from Dakar: Political Shifts Reap a Fruitful Biennial

Last April, mere weeks before it was due to open, the 2024 Dak’Art Biennial was abruptly postponed due to unprecedented political protests surrounding the Senegalese presidential election. Despite this inauspicious start, when the biennial finally opened earlier this month, it presented a nuanced account of celebration and artistic resilience in a new political landscape.

An international event requiring months of dedicated preparation and featuring more than 50 artists, ‘The Wake’ included several projects that had no choice but to go ahead in May as originally scheduled. This was particularly true of the complementary exhibitions and performances of the ‘OFF’ section, which extends the biennial beyond its main sites. Such was the case at Galerie Atiss Dakar, for instance, where founder Aissa Dione and curator Jareh Das had already arranged for several prominent artists from across the continent and beyond to participate in a group show. The exhibition, titled ‘Catch the Invisible’, included works by Jelili Atiku and Alberto Pitta, exploring spirituality and symbolism in West Africa and Brazil. 

This month, to coincide with the postponed biennial, Dione curated another group show titled ‘Savoir Faire’ (Know How). It features historical and contemporary works and explores the role of arts and craftsmanship in transforming African societies. These include innovative pieces by Ousmane Bâ, Eniola Dawodu and Koffi Kugbe, whose ‘Mind’ series (2024) stuns in its incorporation of raw materials and amulets. ‘Savoir Faire’ also features 19th-century textiles found at Sotiba, a Senegalese factory. Along with her team, Dione, a textile artist and curator, is engaged in restoring and preserving these globally and historically significant items.

While some organizers found the biennial’s postponement challenging, several artists expressed a sense of relief. For them, the extension afforded extra time to perfect their presentations and to expand their vision for the event. On the opening night of the Loman Art House group show, ‘L’Écho de l’Héritage’ (The Echo of Heritage), I spoke with Senegalese artist Laye Thioune, whose paintings and masks capture the beauty, significance and danger of traditional social structures and conditioning. Thioune told me that he experienced the postponement of the biennial as an opportunity for heightened productivity and artistic growth. 

‘L’Écho de l’Héritage’ features exciting mixed media works by gallery owner Loman Pawlitschek, which capture the electricity and verve of communal life in Dakar. Also included are contributions by Théophany Adoh, such as ‘To the Rhythms of Memory’ (2024), a series that draws on Senegalese sabar dancing to explore the tensions between tradition and modernity. Franco-Ivoirien artist Sophie Leuthe, represented by Loman Art House and showing her work at Dak’Art for the first time, embraced the delay as a chance to prepare mentally for the presentation. Her sculptures, such as La Prière universelle (The Universal Prayer, 2024), contain both the exuberance and the devotion to craft that make the biennial and its participating galleries such an exciting environment for discovering new artists. 

With deep roots in both traditional and contemporary art scenes, this year’s Dak’Art honouree was internationally renowned Senegalese painter and sculptor Anta Germaine Gaye, whose exceptional innovations in glass painting have codified her historical significance.

‘Artists residing in Dakar are optimistic about what they’ve seen so far from the new government, relieved by the country’s return to stability’

In addition to celebrating impactful Senegalese artists, Dak’Art also features international names, which this year include Russian photographer, painter and philanthropist Galina Stepanova. Her stunning canvases chronicling her travels in India and beyond are featured as part of ‘Le Monde au delà des Horizons’ (The World Beyond Horizons) at the Théâtre Daniel Sorano – Dakar’s oldest national theatre. Another artist presenting her latest work in this show was frequent Dak’Art participant Angela Franklin, who divides her time between Senegal and the US. Rich in narrative, Franklin’s textile and mixed-media works, such as Forever Following (2024), encourage audiences to take the time to engage deeply with the story they are being told. In conversation at the opening, she told me how excited she was by the diversity of artistic voices being shown across both the ‘OFF’ section and the main-venue events this year.

For attendees, perhaps the major benefit of the delayed opening date was its newfound proximity to another significant international cultural event in northern Senegal. As one of the world’s only international string music festivals, founded by master korist Ablaye Cissoko, the Festival au tour des cordes (String Festival) has been breaking new cultural ground since its inception four years ago. This year’s programme featured an exciting array of artists on string instruments, many of which will be unfamiliar to Western audiences. Hailing from the African continent and beyond, participating artists included the Haitian guitarist BélO, Norwegian folk musician Benedicte Maurseth and Paris-based singer Julia Sarr.

A standout performer at the festival, Sarr shared with me her sentiments on the new administration’s cultural impact: hopefulness, excitement and patience. ‘We are giving [the new president Bassirou Diomaye Faye] time for actions and decisions,’ she told me, ‘And we pray for peace in Senegal.’ Her statement mirrors those of several artists residing in Dakar, who are optimistic about what they’ve seen so far from the new government, relieved by the country’s return to stability and invigorated by its continued emergence as a bustling cultural hub.

The 15th Dakar Biennale of Contemporary African Art (Dak’Art) is on view until 7 December

^{Main image: Elolo Bosoka, Flying Onions, 2024, exhibition view. Courtesy: the artist and Galerie Atiss Dakar; photograph: Morel Donou, Courtesy}