08 November- 22 February 2025

Arébénor Basséne

Tarana

 

Tarana

 

On the occasion of the 15th edition of the Dakar Biennale, Selebe Yoon is presenting Tarana, an individual exhibition by Arébénor Basséne. 

Tarana could have been the name of the "New World", the land on the other side of the Atlantic that has fascinated and frightened the imaginations for centuries. Pathé Diagne, a historian and linguist, theorises the existence of a permanent, centuries-old navigation between the African continent and the Americas, and proposes an alternative history of ancient civilisations, of transcontinental mobility, long before the European conquests. 

Captivated by the great epics of history, triumphant and forgotten empires, it is the uncertainties of history, the multiple ways in which it is written, its stammering and contradictions that become the starting point for Arébénor Basséne's work. He draws on both well-known stories, such as the founding of Mali in the epic of Soundiata, and counter-stories, such as that of the legendary seafaring king Aboubakri II of the Mandingo Empire and his expedition across the Atlantic. Tarana, mirages of history, between historical reality and geographical myth, is a source of great excitement for the artist. 

At Selebe Yoon, Arébénor Basséne's new series of works on batik employs techniques and materials that bear witness to world history, to the network of land and sea routes through which so much knowledge and technology has passed. Batik, an Indonesian technique introduced to the continent in the 19th century and which has become a unique craft in West Africa, allows the artist to dip his canvases in baths of wax and natural pigments, creating striking layers and intense chromatic hues. Against this abstract background, he gradually builds up a dynamic surface by using various materials such as gum arabic - the raw material that made the West African coast so attractive to foreign sailors - the ink used for Koranic tablets, henna and natural pigments from the region.  

In his pictorial work, Basséne imagines himself as one of the first or last chroniclers of a world, observing the relics of reality and allowing himself the freedom to subsume and fantasise about them. In this way, he gives his canvases the appearance of parchments and mock archives, capturing landscapes with eroded textures that evoke a time that seems to have gone by. The overall effect is reminiscent of delicate cartographies in which the stories of the great transcontinental crossings and maritime voyages are interwoven. At the same time as revealing the geographer's own ways of delineating the axes of the map, the works also show traces of valleys, river courses, objects that may have come from archaeological finds, and traces that resemble those of the first hands on land. Simultaneously, celestial constellations, reminiscent of the stars as landmarks for maritime navigation, short-circuit all attempts at scientific study. From these multiple layers of matter, immense silhouettes emerge in swirls of ochre or pink abstraction. These figures, like pilgrims or ghosts of history, momentarily disappear in the face of the enveloping abstraction, existing in a perceptible ambiguity. 

Between elusive figures, disorientation, dissolution of form and content, Arébénor Basséne's new works appear like simulacrums of narratives that might have taken place, an imaginary topology or an invitation to dream. History and its universal imposture struggle to survive in the face of the power of an intimated nature and its ineluctable movement, which would dissolve with it all the all-too-human epics. 

 Arébénor Basséne participates in the 15th Dakar Biennale, entitled "The Wake, L'èveil, Le sillage, Xàll wi", curated by Salimata Diop, from 7 November to 7 December 2024.

 

Artist biography

© Morel Donou

 

 

From Southern Senegal in Casamance, Arébénor Basséne (b.1974, Dakar) holds a master's degree in African civilizations and literature (2012-2013), a double degree in English and African civilizations (2010-2011) from Cheikh Anta Diop University and is a graduate of the National School of Arts of Senegal (1997-2001). He is fascinated by ancient civilizations, whether dreamed of or forgotten, from the great empires of Africa to those of the Mediterranean. It is nevertheless the stuttering of history that gives birth to  Arébénor Basséne’s artistic practice, built as imaginary witnesses of the past.

 Arébénor Bassène, has had solo exhibitions: "Que je naisse, tout doux, semant", presented by Selebe Yoon at L'Atlas in Paris, France (2023) and "Mots de Neige, Histoires en Sable", at Selebe Yoon in Dakar, Senegal (2021). His work has also been shown in the following group exhibitions : “The Wake, l’éveil, le sillage, Xàll wi“, 15th edition of the Dakar Biennial, Old Law Courts Dakar, Senegal (2024), “MUTATIONS“, Montresso Art Foundation, Marrakech, Morocco (2024), “Entre Parenthèses“ Selebe Yoon, Dakar Senegal (2024); “Sur le fil : broderies et tissage“ organised by 19M initially at the Théodore Monod Museum (IFAN), Dakar, Senegal and in their gallery in Paris,  France (2023). He represents “the Senegalese Pavilion“ at the Musée des Civilisations Noires for the Dak'Art Biennial, Dakar, Senegal (2022), Participates in OFF at the Havana Biennial, Cuba (2019), “Junction“ at the Théodore Monod Museum (IFAN), Dakar, Senegal (2017), at the group exhibition at the Alliance Française in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (2017), “Regards sur cours“ at the Gorée Institute (2017), It features in the Dak'Art Biennial IN "La Cité dans le Jour Bleu", Dakar, Senegal (2016) curated by Simon Njami; “Le Sénégal à Paris“ presented by the Maison de l'Afrique at the Rotonde de Montparnasse (2011), at the first Cheikh Anta Diop memorial at the Centre Culturel Français (1995).

He has been nominated for the Norval Sovereign African Art Prize, at the Norval Foundation in Cape Town, South Africa, and is one of the finalists in (2023). He won the Dakar City Council prize (2022), the UEMOA - West African Economic and Monetary Union prize (2016) at the Dark'Art Biennial and the Ministry of Culture prize at the 9th National Plastic Artists' Exhibition (2011).

Arébénor Basséne is in the official selection of the 15th edition of the Dakar Biennale.

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