Art Basel Paris | Conversations | Dakar: New Atlantic Wave (FR)

Words DiopCurator – contemporary art, Dakar and La Rochelle
Hamedine KaneArtist and director, Brussels, Paris and Dakar
Moderator: Simon NjamiAuthor and curator, Paris

From Léopold Sédar Senghor – thinker of negritude and first president of Senegal in 1960, who encouraged the emergence of cultural avant-gardes – to the excitement created by institutions such as Raw Material Company or the Biennale in Dakar, the capital Senegalese is a stronghold of the West African artistic scene. Between institutional experimentation, avant-garde cinema and contemporary artistic scenes, this discussion focuses on the forces and questions that cross the city and this region of Africa.

This conversation will be held in French.

Words Diop is an exhibition curator, art critic and composer. Since 2012, it has played an important role in the promotion, documentation and conservation of the creations of contemporary artists from Africa and the diaspora. She is co-director of the documentary series “African Masters”, produced by The Africa Channel. She was responsible for programming at the Africa Center in London, before being appointed artistic director of the contemporary art fair Also Known as Africa in Paris. She co-founded the Saint-Louis Museum of Photography in Senegal and has curated numerous exhibitions around the world, including the Art Africa Fair (2017) in Cape Town, and the exhibitions La Villa Rouge (2018) and The Invincible Songs (2022) in Dakar. Salimata Diop is the artistic director of the Dakar Biennale 2024, organized around the theme “The Wake”, for which she composed an album of the same name, as part of her innovative curatorial work combining criticism and music.

Hamedine Kane is a Senegalese-Mauritanian artist and director. His artistic practice explores notions of exile, wandering, heritage and the awareness that arises from the post-independence political experiences of certain African countries. He also studies the influence of African, African-American, and Afro-diasporic literature on political, social, and environmental activism, using film, photography, performance, and installations. Co-founder of L’École des Mutants, he focuses on the transmission of postcolonial knowledge.

Simon Njami is an independent curator, lecturer, art critic and novelist based in Paris. In 1991, he co-founded Revue Noire, a journal of contemporary African art, of which he was editor-in-chief from 1991 to 2000. He was artistic director of the first Johannesburg art fair in 2008, of the Biennale of Photography in Bamako from 1998 to 2006 and the Dakar Biennale in 2016 and 2018. In 2007, he was co-curator of the first African pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Simon Njami was a member and spokesperson of the Documenta 16 selection committee. He has curated numerous contemporary art and photography exhibitions, including the Ivory Coast pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale. 1998 he created Pan-African photography masterclasses with the Goethe-Institut, which he led for 12 years. He has published and edited numerous works, including biographies of James Baldwin (1991) and Léopold Sédar Senghor (2007), as well as four novels. His latest novel, The Mechanic of Memorieswill be published in September.

The Art Basel Paris 2024 Conversations program is commissioned by Pierre-Alexandre Mateos and Charles Teyssou.

The Conversations will be held in the auditorium of the Petit Palais, opposite the Grand Palais.

Access to the Conversations is free and open to everyone. We advise you to reserve your place.

Doors will be open 10 minutes before the start of the event.

Please save the event to your calendar to receive a reminder and access your free ticket on the Art Basel app. You can also register on site on a first-come, first-served basis.

The video of the Conversation will be available on the Art Basel website and YouTube channel after the event.

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Words DiopContemporary art Curator, Dakar and La Rochelle
Hamedine KaneArtist and film director, Brussels, Paris and Dakar
Moderator: Simon NjamiWriter and curator, Paris

From Léopold Sédar Senghor, a theorist of the Négritude movement and Senegal’s first president, who encouraged the emergence of cultural avant-gardes, to the ebullience fostered by institutions such as Raw Material Company and the Dakar Biennale, the Senegalese capital is one of West Africa’s artistic cradles. Addressing institutional experimentation, avant-garde cinema, and contemporary art scenes, this discussion looks at the forces and questions that run through the city and this region of Africa.

This conversation will be held in French.

Words Diop is a curator, art critic, and composer. She has been instrumental in promoting, documenting, and curating the creations of contemporary artists from Africa and the diaspora since 2012. She is the co-director of the documentary series ‘African Masters’, produced by The Africa Channel. She was head of programming of The Africa Centre in London, before being appointed artistic director of the Also Known as Africa contemporary art fair in Paris. She co-founded the Musée de la Photographie de Saint-Louis in Senegal and has curated numerous exhibitions around the world, including the Art Africa Fair (2017) in Cape Town, and the exibitions La Villa Rouge (2018) and Les Chants invincibles (2022) in Dakar. Diop is the artistic director of the 2024 Dakar Biennale, curated around the theme of ‘The Wake’, for which she has composed an album of the same name, as part of her innovative critical and musical curatorial work.

Hamedine Kane is a Senegalese-Mauritanian artist and film director. His artistic practice explores the notions of exile, wandering, inheritance, and the awareness that stems from the post-independence political experiences of some African countries. He also investigates the influence of African, African-American, and Afro-diasporic literature on political, social, and environmental activism, using film, photography, performance, and installations. Co-founder of L’École des Mutants, he focuses on the transmission of post-colonial knowledge.

Simon Njami is a Paris-based independent curator, lecturer, art critic, and novelist. In 1991, Njami co-founded Revue Noire, a journal of contemporary African art, where he served as editor in chief from 1991 to 2000. He was artistic director of the first Johannesburg art fair in 2008; the Bamako Photography Biennale from 1998 to 2006; and the Dakar Biennale in 2016 and 2018. In 2007, he co-curated the first African pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Njami was a member of and spokesperson for the Finding Committee of Documenta 16. He has curated numerous exhibitions of contemporary art and photography, including the Ivory Coast pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale. In 1998, he created Pan-African photography masterclasses with the Goethe-Institut, which he directed for 12 years. He has published and edited numerous books including biographies of James Baldwin (1991) and Leopold Sédar Senghor (2007), and four novels. His latest novel, The Mechanic of Memories, will be published in September.

The Art Basel Paris 2024 Conversations program is curated by Pierre-Alexandre Mateos and Charles Teyssou.

Conversations take place in the auditorium of the Petit Palais, directly opposite the Grand Palais.

Conversations are free and open to the public, booking is recommended.

Doors will open 10 min before the event.

Please save the event to your calendar to receive a reminder and access your free ticket on the Art Basel app. You are also welcome to join on a first come first serve basis onsite.

A recording of the Conversation will be available on the website and youtube channel of Art Basel after the event