Dak’art is a biennial arts festival that takes place in Dakar, Senegal. It was begun in 1989 as a literary event but became wholly dedicated to contemporary African arts in 1996.[1] As one of the first pan-African art festivals sponsored primarily by an African nation, Dak’art 96 was heralded as a groundbreaking exhibition. Inaugurated by then-president of Senegal Abdou Diouf, on May 8, 1996, the festival involved dozens of exhibitions and performances scattered around Dakar. The main International Exhibition was held at the Institut Fondamentale d’Afrique Noire (IFAN), showing sculpture and painting from 42 artists representing 17 African countries. Five artists, each representing a different region of Africa (North, West, Central, East, and South) were given small individual showings, and an exhibition of local, Senegalese artists was mounted in the National Art Gallery (La Galérie Nationale d’Art). Dak’art also hosted a Design Salon, a Textile and Tapestry Gallery, a Biennial Festival Village with informal sculptures and dance performances, and an Arts Education Salon spotlighting young artists from ages 5-20.[2]
Though the show was praised for including artists from all over the continent, it seemed to harbor some bias, heavily favoring francophone artists, especially those from West Africa. In Sue Spaid’s review of Dakar ’96, she mentions that the show was critiqued for staying up too long, which made it appear too market-oriented and aimed at collectors[3] However, most reviews of the festival were overwhelmingly positive,[4] citing the strong showings in both the International Exhibition as well as the Design Studio, particularly from Senegalese decorative artists Sawalo Cisse and Babacar Sedikh Traore, as well as Vincent Amian Niamien from Cote d’Ivoire. Spaid mentions Senegalese sculptor Moustapha Dime, who exhibited large stick-figure sculptures with hoe heads, as a “clear favorite” of festival-goers.[5] Cameroonian assemblage artist Pascale Marthine Tayou was another standout artist, whose works use cast-off socks, plastic bottles, underwear, dolls, and other trash.
-Molly Klaisner
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[1] http://www.biennaledakar.org/
[2] Dak’art 96: Biennale de l’art Africain Contemporain. (Paris: Cimaise, 1996).
[3] Sue Spaid. “Report From Dakar: Assembling Africa.” Art in America. 85 no. 5 (May 1997): 47.
[4] Spaid, Susan, Art in America. Hege'Goueier. “Dak’Art 96.” The Courier. 158 9July/August 1996): http://agnic.msu.edu/cgi-bin/library?e=d-000-00---0demo--00-0-0--0prompt-10---4------0-1l--1-es-50---20-help---00031-001-1-0cp866-00&cl=CL2.1&d=HASH30aa188f4d8ddaef558fc9.9.1>=1
[5] Spaid, Art in America, 49
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