Prize - Norval Sovereign African Art Prize 2023
Finalists Exhibition
Including: Arébénor Bassene and Mbaye Diop
25 January - 20 March 2023
The Finalists Exhibition at Norval Foundation
Cape Town
We are delighted to announce the selection of our artists Arébénor Basséne and Mbaye Diop for the Norval Sovereign African Art Prize and their upcoming participation at the Finalists Exhibition at Norval Foundation, Cape Town from from 25 January – 20 March 2023. The Norval Sovereign African Art Prize aims to increase the international exposure of artists in Africa or of the African diaspora, whilst raising funds for arts education programmes on the continent. The public can also view the artworks online and vote for their favourite on The Sovereign Art Foundation’s website HERE. The artist with the most support from the public will be awarded the Public Vote Prize.
Mbaye Diop
Nominated by Anissa Touati
Xaar II (The Wait), 2022, Graphite on Paper
Mbaye Diop works across media, usually presenting his work in black and white. Often, the artist uses serigraphy and draws on various supports such as wood, cardboard or wall. While Diop’s work draws from the sociological and environmental phenomena occurring in his home country – including immigration, environmental changes, urban cluttering and the neglect of architectural heritage – he also reflects on his own experience of displacement in Switzerland. His work witnesses changing paradigms in African societies, namely the dichotomies between social media and ancient practices, virtual realities and African traditional customs.
Xaar (the wait) #2 (2022) is a drawing made with graphite that evokes scenes of an extremely popular and dynamic market in Dakar. Markets in Senegal are points of convergence in which people gather to buy, sell and negotiate. The streets become a sort of waiting room where sellers hope and animals await their final execution. This moment of waiting recalls the weeks prior to the Muslim celebration of Tabaski (Eid al-Adha). Owing to shifts in urban legislation, the city’s curbs become host for all sorts of urban phenomena at a time when Dakar’s informal markets are threatened by real estate and developmental pressure.
To vote for this work, click here
Arébénor Basséne
Nominated by Sylvain Sankalé
Solstice 0, Acrylic, natural pigments, wax, ink, graphite and sawdust on paper mounted on a canvas with a wooden frame, 150 x 150cm
Arébénor Basséne approaches his work like imagined documents from the past, taking inspiration from the development of language and writing systems, fragments of history and archaeological remains. In an attempt to fill the gaps left in history and comment on one’s access to the past, Basséne has developed his own lexicon. The artist uses materials found in Senegal: Arabic gum (a historically attractive commodity to the foreign sailors), ink (used in Koranic teaching tablets), fouden (henna), crushed wood and natural pigments. These materials comment on history’s plurality as well as its falsifications.
Solstice 0 (2022) is composed of twenty-four works on paper which have been mounted on canvas. Mimicking the printing technique of batik—whereby patterns are drawn in wax on fabric and then the fabric is submerged in dye, leaving the sections covered in wax untouched—Basséne transforms the paper’s surface with multiple layers of materials, including natural pigments, wax, ink, sand, and sawdust. In Solstice 0, microscopic visions of earth’s base elements seemingly sit alongside macro perspectives of geographical areas, depicting deltas, desert dunes, and rivers. Each piece carries the illusion of history’s erosion, swept away by time.
To vote for this work, click here