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CONTEMPORARY
ART
IN BURKINA
FASO
by
Hamed Ouattara
Burkina Faso, located in
the heart of West Africa represents a field of African
culture and opens up favourably to the outside world.
Speaking of contemporary art in Burkina Faso, one has to
first situate art in times past up till the 90s.
Before the 80s and 90s when art was really referred to
as contemporary, it had existed and manifested mostly in
sculptural forms composed by artisans, and pottery and
monumental art that was restricted around happenings,
fetish and masques. Painting was more of the wall type
and decorative. This can still be seen around the east
and west, particularly composed of geometric forms.
The psychology of this type of art gets its inspiration
from traditions of sacred rituals. The daily occurrences
of the society could be mobile representations and that
evokes exorcism in the eye of outsiders, people of other
continents, which have become theatres arts. For
instance we helped in the return of the statue Mamio of
the region of Gaoua which had otherwise made the West
happy particularly France and Germany at the same time.
It was after independence and particularly in 1990 that
the notion of contemporary art became well established
with the arrival of certain artists like Ky Siriki and
Guy Compoare who contributed to the emergence of this
kind of art. A good example is the Loango granite
sculpture park which Ky Siriki initiated.
The socio-political situation of contemporary art in
Burkina Faso has matured and grows with the body politic
of the state and it is the state that has been
initiating events like SIAO, the national week for
culture (SNC), the Center for Arts and Culture (CNAA),
the National Museum, the National Gallery, the granite
sculpture park opened at Loango, some 30 kilometers from
Ouagadougou.
Apart from these state structures, private initiatives
also exist in line with the politics of the state. There
is the Menaga Museum, the Olorun Foundation, the Nuance
Gallery, the Gondouwana Restaurant and others like the
ANAPAP in Burkina Faso. Pictorial art got its momentum
after the 90s through the influence of activities like
the Ouaga Art and the art meetings.
The pictorial art and sculpture are separate from what
is referred to as (Art d’aeroport) airport art. It is
selective and should be considered seriously. Therefore,
it suffers from certain structural production, from
critical and theoretical discourses because since there
is no formal institution of art, the university doesn’t
offer any training in art.
The French, American and other centers remain places of
passionate debates on contemporary art. Being conscious
of the necessity and importance of art, Burkina Faso has
undertaken to establish the status of the Burkinabé
artiste and to create the committee of journalists
entrusted with art critic and charged to follow the
historic movement of artists for the future.
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