Dak'Art African Contemporary Art Biennale

Dakar, Senegal from May 3 - June 2

By: Dakar - Mar 16, 2016

 

A specially invited art delegation of American galleries, museums, curators, and collectors is being led to attend the 12th edition of the Dak'Art African Contemporary Art Biennale in Dakar, Senegal from May 3 - June 2. The art delegation, traveling from May 5 through May 12, will participate in a cultural exchange with contemporary African and world artists and includes invitations to special events, private meetings, international exhibitions by six curators from four continents, and other Dak'Art programming.

The delegation will also blend the biennale programming and cultural exchange with a unique African experience touring Dakar, Saint Louis, and surrounding communities. Visits include Goree Island (which was a main hub of the Atlantic slave trade), an art tour to major monuments and cultural institutions, a safari game reserve, local villages, traditional markets, and more.

Dak’Art 2016 is inspired by the theme “The City in the Blue (La Cité dans le jour bleu)” and will be curated by Simon Njami who was also named as the fair’s new artistic director. As inspiration from the theme, Njami selected the extract of Léopold Sédar Senghor’s poem: “Your voice cries out for the Republic - let us raise up that city in a blue daylight: Of equality for brotherly peoples. So we sing in our hearts. “We are here, Guélowar!”

As the only exhibition of its kind on the entire continent of Africa, an impressive lineup of 65 artists have been selected to exhibit at Dak’Art in response to a global call for applications. The artists represent 20 countries from Africa and from around the world, including Senegal, Burkina Faso, USA, France, Cameroon, Morocco, Italy, Kenya, Bahamas, Mozambique, Ghana, Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Tunisia, Portugal, Cote d’Ivoire, Malawi, Sudan, Madagascar, Algeria, Burundi. Dak’Art has been held every two years since 1990 and has since evolved to become a pan-African biennale in 1996 to focus on Contemporary African and African diaspora art and artists.

Dak’Art 2016 is a must visit for curators and collectors that are both intrigued and fascinated by the celebration of African art and works by Diaspora artists. For more information and to join the art delegation, visit WEBSITE LINK.