In Search Of Our Roots. On The History Of Senegalese Paintings

Abstract

Ken Aicha Sy is a Senegalese French curator based in Dakar, Senegal. Her curatorial research project Survival Kit aims to create a tool, Magalogue (1), for understanding the history of contemporary Senegalese art, particularly from the 1960s to the 1990s.Hundreds of paintings, graphics, films, and archival documents from the École de Dakarare housed in European museums. At the same time, communities in Senegal have no access to their cultural heritage. Survival Kit takes up the urgency that people need to know their cultural roots, allowing collective remembrance of history to envision the future. Her four-year research into Senegal's artistic heritage took her to Germany and England, where she collaborated with the Weltkulturen Museum, Iwalewa House, and SOAS University of London. While conducting her research, she sifted through museum depots and interviewed several key figures from the cultural art scenes of Europe and Africa. She gained significant insights and perspectives on European and African museum institutions and the artistic activities and networks of that time in Senegal. Notably, the artistic and museum practices of collectives Huit Facettes and Laboratoire Agit’Art have significantly impacted Ken Aicha Sy's view of museums as a venue that responds to the community and cultural rootedness. Consequently, returning cultural heritage from Europe to Africa is closely linked to the need for museums and archives to transform themselves to adapt not only to the absent objects but also to the cultural and societal environment of the place of origin.