Raw Material Company presents From Kawral to Sargal: 15 Years of Printmaking in Senegal an exhibition on view 28 June–28 September 2013.
The exhibition is a retrospective of the practice of printmaking at the Goree Institute Printmaking Workshop. Kawral—which means community in Fulani—is the title of the first portfolio of etchings published by this workshop established on Goree Island in 1998. Sargal Gorée—which means pay tribute to Gorée in Wolof—is the title of the last portfolio launched in 2012.
Over one hundred works on paper will be on show in their entirety for the first time. This reflects a unique production of printmaking in Senegal. The exhibition gathers twenty-three artists spanning three generations of artists, including established, mid-career and emerging ones.
The works are the result of a series of workshops held on Goree Island between 1998 and 2012. The thematic workhops lead by master printer Amadou Kane Sy alias Kan Si dealt with subjects such as HIV-AIDS, peace and conflict resolution, gender and freedom, amongst others.
The workshop, which is still ongoing, enables Senegalese and international artists to make works in etching, lithography and woodcut on Africa-related issues. Over the past fifteen years the workshop has produced six collective portfolios: Kawral, Here, Jamm Rek, Collecte 2, Jam Tan and Sargal Gorée.
The exhibition promotes an artistic practice often neglected by contemporary artists.
Artists represented in the exhibition are Abdoulaye Ndoye, Amadou Camara Gueye, Arfang Sarr, Birame Ndiaye, Breyten Breytenbach, Cheikh Niass, Cheikhou Keita, El Sy, Gabriel Kemzo Malou, Fola Lawson, Kalidou Sy, Kan Si, Khadidiatou Sow, Magatte Toure, Mariane Senghor, Melvin Edwards, Muhsana Ali, Ngoor, Piniang, Sea Diallo, Serigne Ndiaye, Seydou Diedhiou and Souleymane Keita.
About Kan Si
Born in Senegal in 1961, Amadou Kane Sy alias Kan Si graduated from Ecole Nationale des Arts in 1991. He is a multifaceted artist who works in painting, installation, photography, video, drawing, etching and poetry. His works deal with contemporary social issues. In collaboration with the Dakar based African-American artist Muhsana Ali, he founded, and is the artistic director of, Portes et Passages, an initiative that aims at opening a holistic art center in the rural area in Senegal. He lives and works in Dakar, Joal and Goree Island.
About Goree Institute
Goree Institute is a non-governmental organization based on Gorée Island, off the coast of Dakar, since 1991. It works on international political dialogue and conflict resolution in Africa.
About Raw Material Company
Raw Material Company is a center for art, knowledge and society established in Dakar since 2008. It is an art initiative unfolding within the realms of exhibition making, commissioning, knowledge production, and archiving of theory and criticism. It works to foster appreciation and growth of artistic and intellectual creativity in Africa.
Raw Material Company
Centre pour l’art, le savoir et la société
Center for art, knowledge and society
4074 bis Sicap Amitié 2
BP 22710 Dakar, Senegal
Hours: Tuesday–Saturday 10am–7pm
T 221 864 0248
www.rawmaterialcompany.org