On the Fringes of Dak’Art, A Festival for the People

By Robin Riskin

While eyes turn to the Dak’Art Biennale for this month’s arts and culture in the capital city of Senegal, one of the most interesting Dak’Art OFF exhibitions can be found in the historic neighborhood of Médina, at the southern west end of Dakar.

Médina, an historic quarter rich with culture and community, this year celebrates its 100th anniversary. As part of the celebration, a group of young artists from Médina came together to present the festival Saxalart.

The catch? The exhibition takes place inside people’s homes.

Khassim Mbaye makes a performance with 100 cards to commemorate Médina’s 100th anniversary for the Saxalart Festival in Dakar.
Image (c) Babacar Traoré Doli

The idea? To bring art into people’s daily spaces, to commemorate Médina’s intellectual and cultural history, and to revive the neighborhood’s spirit of openness and hospitality, with one festival, 24 homes and many streets, and about 60 artists.

Which artists are participating? Greats like Babacar Traoré, Viyé Diba, Zulu M’Baye, Ismaila Manga, Fatou Kandé Senghor, Moussa Traoré, Ndoye Douts, Louis Bassène, and more, alongside up-and-coming talents like Babacar Traoré Doli, Pape Diop, Khalil Art, Bira Kasé, and others who are exhibiting for the first time.

From an installation on the subject of street sellers that blends painting and poetry with laundry and electric lines, by Mel-odile and Thierno Seydou Sall; to a project that brings community rituals into public conversation via film, photography, and performance, by Fatou Kandé Senghor; to digital art-photography that plays off words and language of Médina streets, by Babacar Traoré Doli; the works explore daily life and work in Médina with a kind of reverence and pride.

The main Saxalart festival will take place in December. This month, the group offered a tease preview as part of Dak’Art OFF.

I sat down for a conversation with two of the project’s leaders, Director General Abdoul Sall, and Artistic Director Babacar Traoré Doli.

Abdoul Sall and Babacar Traoré Doli, Director General and Artistic Director of the Saxalart Festvial in Médina, Dakar.
Image (c) Robin Riskin

Question & Answer:

Robin Riskin: Can you tell us a bit about Saxalart?

Abdoul Sall: Saxalart is a festival for the hundredth anniversary of Médina. The project pulls together numerous artists with the aim of bringing art inside people’s homes.

The idea is to involve the people so that they become the cultural mediators. They receive the public and present the exhibition to them, as well as the history of [their] houses in which we are exhibiting. Each house has a history, and it is important for us to discover our neighborhood, especially on the occasion of its 100th anniversary.

RR: What kind of activities and works does Saxalart involve?

AS: Since March, we’ve started workshops in video animation, photography, sculpture, and sous-verre (glass painting) with children from the neighborhood. We’ve led tambabanlous photo walks with 20 photographers. Where we’re sitting right now, the artist Khassim Mbaye is in the middle of making a performance with one hundred cards to mark the 100th anniversary of Médina. There will be sculpture exhibitions, photography works, installations, and artistic and musical performances. Many activities and mediawill be presented up until the end of the year.

Mel-odile and Theirno Seydou Sall’s collaborative installation blends painting and poetry with laundry and electric lines.
Image (c) Babacar Traoré Doli

RR: What is the significance of the homes in which works are exhibited?

AS: We chose homes that have a history: the first houses that were constructed in the neighborhood, and houses where important personalities from the neighborhood have lived.

The house where we are now is one of the oldest houses in Médina, constructed by El Hadj Amadou Ba Founda. Today, his son Elhadj Amadou Tiléré Ba is a cultural mediator for Khassim Mbaye’s exhibition, receiving people and presenting the exhibition. This house was also the headquarters of the Jaaraf de Dakar, which is one of the great clubs of the city.

This house has received great figures in Senegalese political, cultural, intellectual, and athletic life, and it is a house where tea is free every day from 7 in the morning until 9 at night. Each time someone enters, he is served tea. It is a house of welcome, a house that receives. And this is also the spirit of Médina.

Ibrahim Interrogates Process, Space, and Coal Sacks

By Robin Riskin

On an apparently ordinary Monday in the black-sooted Mallam Atta Market of Accra, Ghana, kayaayoo sellers balance fabrics and fruits on their head, while stacks of coal rest by a metal shed. At right, a large spread of sacks stitched together covers a row of coal piles. Anyone familiar with the market would instantly recognize a disruption.

Ibrahim’s installation at Mallam Atta Market in Accra, Ghana last month explored the significance of the coal sack as a material.

A patchwork of sacks has been stretched over the everyday coal piles by a young man dressed in wax print shorts, followed by two assistants and a cameraman. The installation is part of a project by the artist Ibrahim, the man in wax print, carried out on the last day of 2012, Dec. 31.

Ibrahim uses the coal sacks as a device to explore process, material, value, and meaning. Torn, patched, stamped with “PRODUCT OF GHANA,” and written over with owners’ names, the bags are variously marred, marked, and transformed. Ibrahim traces their passage from India to the Ghana Cocoa Boards, to the cocoa warehouses and out to the harbors, to their transformation into coal sacks used by the sisala (coal burners), and finally to the coal-sellers themselves.

Ibrahim’s work is less about the exhibition itself than the process of creating the work and the transformations the material undergoes.

The coal sack becomes a symbol of the way materials are given meaning as a commodity in relation to community and context. Ibrahim re-presents the work in the same kinds of market spaces where he acquires the materials. The object most often unseen, seamlessly integrated into daily transactions, becomes the focus of the scene, made visible through its undoing.

To obtain the sacks, Ibrahim disguises himself as a coal seller, enters the markets, and negotiates with the women selling. Sometimes the prices are high, sometimes they are given freely. It all depends on the interaction and value of the sack to that individual seller. Once collected, Ibrahim re-stitches the sacks, then mounts the patchwork over coal stacks in markets and coal-selling spaces. His audience is passers-by and the sellers themselves. His work is the process.

In a second installation, the middle segment of cloth was covered with Chinese wax print, of the type the coal-sellers themselves would wear. (Photo courtesy of Ibrahim)

The first installation in Mallam Atta Market was followed by a second in the neighborhood of Nima, Accra on Jan. 15, at two coal-selling locations near the gutter at Kawukudi Junction. This time, the middle segment of the cloth was covered with colorful rectangles of Chinese-imported African wax print, and strips of bright pink rope sewn in loops. The Chinese fabric, of cheaper price than the Dutch but comparable appearance, is the type most coal sellers themselves would wear. The rope is the same the sellers use to tie up the bags. Set against the canvas sacks, the collage of textiles creates a system that channels the realities and desires of the sellers, through the imported materials of their everyday existence.

Ibrahim’s work builds off post-colonial themes engaged in El Anatsui’s expansive bottle-cap patchworks, and Yinka Shonibare’s Dutch wax print installations, and calls to mind Christo’s impressive monument-wrappings. Yet his work stands out in its relevance to the communities where the material is found in Ghana. From his methods of obtaining the sacks to the completion and exhibition of them in the market selling space, he constantly negotiates the item’s social and economic context.

Pidgin Slang & Politics: Paapa’s Fresh Urban Sound

By Robin Riskin

Kukua, I just got this scholarship
So I’ll be moving to the dollar ship.
I just want my dreams to set sail
Cause if I stay with you they might fail.

From “Write for me,” by Paapa (bit.ly/V3QSeo)

Paapa’s new song “Write for me” premiered tonight on YFM with Kobby Graham.

————-

Amidst a barrage of azonto beats, mindless lyrics, and money-flashing videos in the Ghanaian music scene, Paapa stands out as a thoughtful and serious artist. A self-described “Ghanaian, Musician, Skillionaire, Dreamer, Forgiven sinner” (his Facebook descrip), his fresh, contemporary, faith-inspired sounds refuse to quite fit into any box.

Mixing slang pidgin phrases with complex sociopolitical issues and soulful melodies, Paapa blends musical styles in a compelling cosmopolitan fusion. Think Lecrae or Mali Music’s conscious Christian rap, John Legend’s coffee piano soul, and Osibisa’s street groovy funk. Paapa writes and produces all his own music, often laboring for months over a single song.

Paapa Kwaku hMensa, who goes by the artist name Paapa, was signed four years ago at the age of 17 to Skillions Records, a Ghanaian label known for producing positive indie music, headed up by rap favorite Jayso. Today, Paapa balances his career as a musician with his schoolwork at Reed College in Oregon, US. Having made the most out of his debut album ‘Solar,’ released in July of 2011, he is gearing up for his second album release, ‘Songs for Kukua,’ coming out this March 6, to coincide with the 56th anniversary of Ghana’s independence.

Paapa synthed smooth tunes as a headlining artist at Accra[dot]Alt’s Ind!e Fuse last month.

This Sunday night, Paapa treated his fans to a pre-release of the single, “Write for me,” which premiered on YFM Radio with DJ Kobby Graham. The stunner of a song connects his personal experience of leaving Ghana for school in the U.S. to a larger narrative of the brain drain for Ghana and Africa. With soft piano strokes and slow guitar strums, Paapa sings an ode of regret and longing to his homeland Ghana, captured through the metaphorical character of Kukua.

Kukua, the name for Wednesday-borns in Ghanaian Akan traditions, matches Kwaku, Paapa’s own Wednesday day-name. The song plays out as a dialogue between the two, Kwaku telling Kukua he “just got a scholarship” and will be “moving to the dollar ship”; that the “cedi and pesewa” (Ghanaian currency) “cannot afford my dreams.” Kukua sings, “Please don’t l-e-eave me-e,” ending in a low tremor, “If you leave / Please write songs for me / And come back to me…”

Jayso (left) joined Paapa at his Family Reunion Concert Jan. 5 at Sytris Cafe. Paapa was signed by Jayso to the Skillions Records team at the age of 17.

Ibra Thiam’s Seriously Surreal Reality

Ibrahima Thiam’s photographs capture distortions of reality.

By Robin Riskin

The shimmering silhouette of a boy leaping between rocks could almost pass for a painting. But halfway through, the frame splits into a crystal sharp rendition. It becomes apparent that the impressionist-like image is a photograph of reflection set in reverse. What seemed to be strokes of paint are real-life distortions on water.

Ibrahima Thiam’s photographs capture distortions of reality – reflections, shadows, re-anglings – and bring out the surreal of the everyday. He paints with light through the camera lens, documenting his experience of life in his home-country of Senegal while rendering a rich abstraction that ruminates on the state of being. Think Viyé Diba’s textured canvases, mixed with Abdoulaye Konaté’s scenarios stitched on textile, topped with a dash of Malick Sidibé’s reportage and portrait photography.

Thiam often arranges his photographs set against canvas, as if to give a giant “Ha!” to anyone who would deny the status of photography as art.

In the series “Reflets” (“Reflections”), Thiam responds to attitudes he has seen in Senegal that only deem painting and sculpture as ‘art.’ He shows photography as equally abstract, imaginative, and surreal. He literally displays the photographs laid over canvas, as if to lead the viewer to believe that within lies a painting…and to give a giant “Ha!” to anyone who fell for it.

Thiam’s”Thiarakhe” series explores urban space via the ubiquitous thiarakhe plastic sandal.

While Thiam is best known for his work on reflections, his series “Thiarakhe” (cha-ra-kay) explores urban space via the ubiquitous thiarakhe plastic sandal – a white flip flop with straps of blue or green, worn by practically every Senegalese. Thiam photographs the sandal at various locations around Dakar, zooming up close to the shoe so that landmarks are revealed through the curves of its plastic strap. The sandal is at once anonymous and universal, a symbol through which Thiam marks his individual experience as well as the shared experiences of all the passers-by traveling through the same space.

“L’Usure,” Thiam’s first series, explores in-between spaces.

“L’Usure” (“Crack”), Thiam’s earliest series, explores in-between spaces through the depiction of fissures, holes, and crags. Already he was on his way to capturing rich textures and surprising frames through the camera lens.

As a child, Thiam grew up surrounded by photographs. He would pull out his grandmother’s collection from her armoire and rifle through her treasure-trove of Meissa Gaye, Mama Casset, Doudou Diop, and more. As he grew older, Thiam was surprised and disappointed to see the lack of photographs formally on display in exhibitions.

As a child, Thiam used to rifle through his grandmother’s treasure-trove collection of photographs: Meissa Gaye, Mama Casset, Doudou Diop.

Fatou Kandé Senghor, Guerilla Art Thriller

By Robin Riskin

Fatou Kandé Senghor is a guerrilla art thriller, film award winner, and lady photographer killer.

Fatou Kandé Senghor prefers to exhibit in public spaces not typically perceived as “art” settings – markets, weddings, naming ceremonies, hip hop shows.

Whether she is invading a hip hop show in Pikine, Dakar with photography and film projections, collaborating with Wim Wenders on the short movie, ‘The Invisible,’ or exhibiting photographs at Okwui Enwezor’s “Snap Judgments” at the International Center of Photography, Kandé Senghor is a bold and passionate artist whose work speaks to the human condition. Her projects span film, photography, writing, and public installation, and touch upon issues of politics, economies, and communities. She is coming out with on a book on hip hop and a public project on dance as a form of expression. While galleries and curators seek out her work, she often prefers to exhibit in public spaces not typically perceived as “art” settings – markets, weddings, naming ceremonies, to name a few. She likes to be where the people are.

“I make art that will challenge our expectations, make us accept our mutations, and then open up platforms for dialogue,” she said in an interview at her colorfully painted Waru Studio in Dakar. “I make my point in a way that can’t be avoided, so they’ll have to acknowledge my existence, strength, and power.”

Kandé Senghor: “I make my point in a way that can’t be avoided, so they’ll have to acknowledge my existence, strength, and power.”

Many of Kandé Senghor’s works address issues of gender and women’s position in society. While ultimately she is interested “in people, in the world,” she said, “I am doing women first because gender is linked to everything.”

‘Restless City,’ Urban Ode & Visual Stunner, Snaps Awards at Addis Fest

By Robin Riskin

‘Restless City’ (2011), directed by Andrew Dosunmu, is a visual delight set on the streets of New York City, told through the eyes of a West African immigrant named Djibril (Sy Alassane). The film just snapped up Best Feature (Best Director) and Best Cinematography at the Colours of the Nile International Film Festival in Addis Ababa.

‘Restless City’ is the first feature film by Andrew Dosunmu, whose background lies in fashion photography and music video directing. (restlesscityfilm.com)

An aspiring rapper from Senegal, Djibril sells CDs on Canal Street, traverses the town via red motobike, and returns home to a dusty apartment in Harlem. His daily hustle takes a perilous turn when he encounters the beautiful Trini (Sky Grey) at the brothel of his bootleg CD supplier. Fast days and pulsing nights blur into a smoky haze against bustling sidewalks, dark clubs, and hair salons.

‘Restless City’ snapped up Best Feature (Best Director) and Best Cinematography at the Colours of the Nile Film Festival in Addis Ababa Nov. 7 – 11. (restlesscityfilm.com)

Through a light plot and sparse dialogue emerges a story that explores the consequences of displacement and results of a dream deferred. While the hasty script was written in two weeks (screenwriter Eugene Gussenhoven) and the footage shot in another two, the images and emotions are astounding. Freeze any given instant, and the still could be a photograph ripped from a fashion magazine or hung in an art gallery.

Think Samuel Fosso’s funky studio portraits, Yinka Shonibare’s politically charged Dutch wax print installations, and Chimanada Ngozi Adichie’s transgressive narratives of West Africans in urban America, mix them in a blender, and put it to film. What with the prowess of cinematographer Bradford Young (who also shot the critically acclaimed ‘Pariah’) and Dosunmu’s background in fashion photography and music video directing, ‘Restless City’ is a visual stunner.

The film takes us through bustling Manhattan streets to smoky Harlem clubs and brothels. (restlesscityfilm.com)

Behind a guise of chic Afropolitan aesthetics, Djibril is confined to a space where he is surrounded by other West African immigrants and isolated from interaction with White American society. While in one sense, Dosunmu loses an opportunity to explore a young Senegalese man’s negotiations of urban America, in another, he purposely defies what has in many ways become a burden for ‘African’ filmmakers creating stories about ‘Africans’ in the diaspora. He shows Djibril acting within his own community instead of marginalized as an ‘other.’

Dosunmu says that ‘Restless City’ is his letter of advice to young immigrants, and his discourse with governments in Africa. “Why are we letting these people go?” he said in the Q&A at the Colours of the Nile Film Festival. “Two hundred years ago, it was by force. Now, it’s our own will.”

Under Viyé Diba’s Brown Bonnet

By Robin Riskin

A brown bonnet cap and gentle smile bedeck Viyé Diba, one of the forefathers of contemporary art in Senegal. Rich canvases and multi-media installations cover the walls of his airy whitewashed home. The upper floor is a sunlit cove of Diba originals.

Viyé Diba, who spearheaded a movement of abstract art in Senegal.

Diba’s mystical abstract artworks are rooted in sensibilities of movement, rhythm, and spirituality that speak to a global nation. The canvases mix hues of reds, browns, and grays with bits of rope, plastic, toile, and other materials. Wooden beams guide the movement, while disfigurations texture the backdrop.

“Matières et Sentiments” (Materials and Feelings), 1996, detail

Diba uses local and recycled materials found in the environments he depicts. Rather than signing with his name, he marks each work with a patch of faded color. The sense of geometry, gravity, and horizontality in his art stems from his interest in dance, which he describes as the most potent form of human expression. More recently, Diba has experimented with plastics, consumerist products, and spacious installations, such as his works for the past several Dak’Art Biennales, and for the 2011 Tang Museum exhibition, “Environment and the Object” at Skidmore College.

“Le Langage” (The Language), 2001, detail

Although strong in math and science, Diba decided to attend Ecole des Beaux Arts (now Ecole Nationale des Arts) in order to make a living as an art teacher. When he won a scholarship to study in France, he discovered art as not just a profession but a passion. He wrote a dissertation for his Ph.D in urban studies that compared the city of Nice, France to that of Dakar. Diba has spearheaded a movement of abstract art in Senegal; exhibited in the likes of Johannesburg, Paris, and Washington; and served as the President of the National Senegalese Association of Visual Artists. He is interested in questions of people and space, urban environments, and social aesthetics. He uses art as a strategy to analyze history, represent society, and imagine solutions for the future.

Viyé Diba stands before “Matières et Sentiments” (Materials and Feelings), 1996

“Matières et Sentiments” (Materials and Feelings), 1996
Each piece of the seven-panel installation links to its neighbor through a rope and alternating mallet or pocket. Subtle vertical lines pull the motion downward to meet strips of canvas tied into thick bows. Ruddy brown tones emphasize a bond with the Earth, while the weight at the bottom delineates the pull of gravity. The works capture a relationship between space, form and human sentiment. The yearning for connection reflects Diba’s interest in communication that extends beyond the vocal.

“Robinet” (Faucet), 2010

“Robinet” (Faucet), 2010
Frustrated by a Chinese-imported faucet that he had to replace seven times, Diba traced out and replicated the faucet’s contour until it covered an entire canvas. The gray shapes fill the frame under a gauze of toile, and become visible through a window-like sliver of cellophane. On top of the window is written “421,” the total number of faucets in the frame. With a pristine geometric abstraction, the piece demonstrates the repetition of wastefulness in the 21st century routine.

A Palette of Pepper, Coco & Cucumber Slices

By Robin Riskin

The scent of vanilla wafts from the kitchen. Curls of lemon peel adorn the counter. Welcome to Gogo Sy’s studio.

Coconut curls soaked in food coloring pop compose Gogo’s culinary palette.

Aissata Sy, or “Gogo,” as she calls herself, is a food photographer of the most tantalizing talent. Cucumber slices, egg yolks, and coconut balls comprise her palette. Dashes of pepper and sprinklings of sugar are her texture. Radishes float in a sheet of blackness, suspended in mid-air like jewels in a Tiffany catalogue. Through her camera lens, Gogo transforms fruits and vegetables into stunning tableaux of magical allure. She pushes viewers to take time to appreciate the ordinary and to see the beauty in simple objects.

Lemon slices and radish piles make an artful composition.

While Gogo’s work is easily suited for the commercial (Senegal’s ad-heavy Jongue food spice company should try calling her right now), she captures the organic vibrancy of a Cezanne fruit still-life, fertile beauty of a Georgia O’Keefe flower painting, and subtle energy of Harold Edgerton’s “Bullet Piercing Apple” photograph.

With a papaye’s rich orange hues and black pearl sheen, Gogo urges viewers to see the beauty in simple objects.

It is only within the past year that Gogo began to work professionally as a photographer. She started off studying painting and design at Dakar’s Ecole Nationale des Arts. She bought a camera in order to capture scenes for her paintings, only to realize that photography itself was a passion. Since then, she has exhibited at the Dak’Art Biennale 2012 in St. Louis, Senegal and the annual Art Show at Hotel Sokhamon, Dakar.

As one of relatively few female artists in Senegal, Gogo has marked her place in the thriving urban art hub of Dakar. What with a “GOGO” Facebook page, sleek “GogO” logo, and slew of exhibitions under her belt, Gogo is not just an artist but an entrepreneur.

Gogo began by studying painting and design, only to realize photography itself was a passion.

Hip Hop Explodes at la Biscuiterie de Médina

By Robin Riskin

The freshest underground and burgeoning young hip hop artists in Dakar took over la Biscuiterie de Médina on Saturday night, Oct. 6, with sharp verses, dance-popping beats, and sheer unstoppable energy. Colored beams lit the stage, clouds of mist whipped the air, and metal cans streaming fire notched up the heat, to the delight of the packed audience. The event was the final night of Canabasse‘s “Hit the Club Tour”  with BuzzLab.

La Biscuiterie de Médina exploded with hip hop music at the Hit the Club Tour on Saturday, Oct. 6. Above, Young Fresh of the Buzz Lab team.

What with the New York caps and Brooklyn t-shirts, shouts of “DK” could easily be mistaken for “BK” – except that the show was smack in the trendy capital city of Dakar, and artists were rapping in combinations of English, Wolof, and French laid over Senegalese “mbalax” beats. With lyrical references from Lady Gaga and Obama to urgent calls upon the youth of Senegal to take political agency, the night was packed with entertainment and social relevance.

Matador, Senegalese rap star and founder of Africulturbain, stole the show with a brief but glass-shattering performance.

Set in a former biscuit factory-turned-performance-hall, the show was headlined by recent star Canabasse and the BuzzLab team. But the real treasures of the night were some of the earlier acts, including Xuman, Da Brains, and Sen Kumpe, who impressed with lyrical and rhythmic talent. The rap duos captured the hip hop aesthetics of Jay-Z, rhythmic groove of Youssou N’Dour, and politico-soul of Nneka. Senegalese rap legend Matador, founder of hip hop center Africulturban, slipped on stage early with a glass-shattering performance that had the crowd screaming for more.

Hip hop duo Xuman referenced Lady Gaga and Obama while rapping in Wolof.

After a series of Canabasse shows across the country, BuzzLab teamed up with Wakh Art, and Wakh Art Music, Recidive, Skillzography More Human, and Blue for the final night. Admission was 2000 CFA, or about $4.

The Other ‘Magic Land’ of Dakar

“La Vie Des Noires” by Serigne Ndiaye Cissy, at Plage Soumbédioune (pronounced Soom-bay-djune)

By Robin Riskin

Nestled in the crook of Plage Soumbédioune, set behind the thumping music of the Magic Land amusement park, lies another “magic land” for the creatively curious. A motley sculpture garden of recycled materials, “La Vie Des Noires” (“The Lives of Africans”) is a fantastical installation by Serigne Ndiaye Cissy.

A discarded boombox transforms into a handbag accessory through Cissy’s work of recuperation.

The works represent the lives of African people and peoples, made out of items Cissy has found on the beach. Branches fastened with plastics, fabrics, and metals embody tribes from across the continent. Tombstones of gathered rocks commemorate Senegalese artists and leaders. Under Cissy’s hand, objects as mundane as a water bottle and as outrageous as a painted cow skull transform into a kooky but rich homage to African lives, histories, and cultures.

Visitors can enter “La Vie des Noires” by any of the five portals.

“La Vie des Noires” is no static structure, but a living, moving mechanism. Since Cissy created the work in 2000, he adjusts details every day. At any given time, if he’s not resting in his “tiki-chateau,” he may be found moving the Mali tribe over to the Gambia crowd, or perhaps adding to the frock of “La Femme Africaine.” This June, not long after the site was included in the Dak’Art Biennale, Cissy sensed bad spirits in the vicinity and burned the work to the ground, only to rebuild the formation from scratch.

Visitors can enter “La Vie des Noires” by any of the five portals and receive Cissy’s free personal tour. Don’t mind that the seat he offers is missing a back – a cushion of newspapers adds padding. By nightfall, Cissy lays out a blanket, and guests can soak in “La Vie des Noires” under the glimmering light of the moon.

The inspiration for the work comes from Cissy’s father, who used to make scare crows out of discarded objects to keep animals off their property. Cissy’s own found object-sculptures evoke trendy recycled material art such as Romauld Hazoumé’s bucket-gallon masks and Calixte Dakpogan’s recuperated plastic creatures. Yet Cissy applies the mixed media aesthetics to the form and function a site-specific environmental installation. He reinvents space, reforms landscape, and presents a constantly evolving site for interaction. In “La Vie does Noires,” rich legacies of culture and knowledge intersect with contemporary forms of representation to produce a work that is at once deeply historical, experimentally alternative, and fabulously cosmopolitan.