The National Art Gallery of Dakar is hosting an exhibition paying tribute to Mouhamadou N’doye, known as N’doye Douts, a major figure in Senegalese contemporary art who died prematurely in June 2023 at the age of 50. Curated by Sylvain Sankalé, member of the Senegalese section of the International Association of Art Critics, this retrospective celebrates the work of an artist who knew how to bring the view of Africa to the world’s greatest cultural institutions. .
Top of his class at the National School of Arts in Dakar in 1999, N’doye Douts quickly established himself on the international scene. Her short film “Train-Train Medina” and her participation in “Africa Remix” at the Center Pompidou in 2005 left their mark, paving the way for an international career that took her from the United States to Korea.
“I have never seen him angry,” testifies Sylvain Sankalé, who followed the artist since his beginnings. “He had immense kindness, immense greatness of soul.” This joie de vivre was reflected in his art: his works captured the vibrant essence of the Medina, his native district, through a vibrant palette and scenes of daily life bustling with taxis, express coaches and laundry dried on the walls , according to Sylvain Sankalé. The latter adds that N’doye Douts “is the only one to have treated this theme in this way, as sympathetic, as pleasant”.
Behind this international notoriety, N’doye Douts has remained deeply attached to its roots. Discreetly, he invested in his native village, financing the construction of school and medical infrastructure. A social commitment that demonstrates its desire to share the fruits of its success with its community.
