At the Ourouss Gallery, the exhibition All the lives imagined by artists Moses Hamborg and Tabia Onabolu is a special moment to get to know Dakar and its images. Moses portrays the daily life of the inhabitants of the capital.
At the Galerie Ourouss des Almadies, the exhibition All the lives imagined by Moses Hamborg and Tabia Onabolu is taking place, which will end on June 9. In his works, Moses “portraitizes” daily life in Dakar where images are juxtaposed in breathtaking decorum. “When Moses paints, he does it live, so he doesn’t use photos. He sits with each subject for hours and hours. He says it’s almost a matter of circumstance. These are people he meets in Dakar and he wants to spend a little more time with them, so it’s really about rapport, but also he draws inspiration from everyday life in Dakar. This is where you see the labels on the taxis… and each painting has references, like the Mamelles lighthouse or something else. In fact, he says above all that despite being an artist, what interests him is not a visual relationship with the subject. It’s more about being able to spend time together,” explains Laetitia Walendom, tricontinental curator, writer, urban planner and producer, currently based between Dakar and Baltimore.
For Mr. Moses, life in the capital is a succession of images and encounters. “Since his arrival in Dakar, he has been inspired by everyday life. For example, there are many people who wear Djellabas, especially on Fridays to go to the mosque. Also, Moses was a lifeguard for 10 years, so he really likes the beach. He especially likes to go, for example, to the Mosque of the Divinity,” she adds. On site, he observes the people who go, who come from the mosque with “their very elegant, very beautiful outfits, and prayer rugs in hand”. “But Papa Laye, for example, above all, he just showed up at the start of Ramadan like that. He’s a young Baye Fall, he has the sabar in his hand. And for him, composition was easy. It was very, very simple for Moses to do his portrait, because it comes directly from the personality, the character of the person,” he says.
Of American nationality, based in Los Angeles, Moses has become a “Dakarois” who casts his gaze to capture a city in perpetual change. “You will see that generally everyone has a very dynamic look. It’s like you stand in front of the paintings and you already know the person. So, for Moses, he especially likes to paint when the light is perfect, because it allows you to directly see the person’s expression, the way they pose, and all that from one moment to another. And the intended look, I can even say that it is… above all a way of immortalizing the person. We know very well that all these portraits are not only of people who come from well-off backgrounds. It allows them to immortalize themselves because Moses was trained in the tradition of the Old Masters, so those of the Renaissance, the great Europeans and all that. And we know that at the time, these were mainly for queens, kings and all that, but the contrast here is that it allows us to present this very regal view of everyone in the community, of everyone at Cité Mbackiou Faye in Ouakam,” continues the curator. For him, it’s a Black Rock residency. In contact with the city, he blends into its daily life. “And it was gradually, when he met several people, that he himself allowed himself to learn Wolof. Because, as you know, he doesn’t speak French at all, but he was able to meet a lot of people. And for two years now, when he returned to Dakar, the last time, he was there for nine months, he lived with a Baye Fall family. So all these people you see there are one big family. You will also see them again during the performance later. But above all, each person is also an artist in their own way. For example, Penda is a stylist, Papa Laye plays the mbalax. Zeyna we see there, she’s a morello cherry, so she has such a breathtaking voice.
And even Mom, who is right behind, she is also a designer, so she is the one who made my dress too. So with each person, there is a very personal relationship which allows not only to sit together for several days, but to become good friends,” dissects Ms. Leaticia Walendom.
Moses Hamborg was born in 1995 in Huntington Beach, California (United States), but he currently lives and works between Los Angeles and Dakar, and is a graduate of the Florence Academy of Art.
