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YOUR EXHIBITION IS ENTITLED CE RYTHME, MON ESPRIT, UNE DISCORDE. HOW DID THIS PROJECT COME ABOUT, AND HOW DOES IT FIT IN WITH YOUR ARTISTIC APPROACH?It all started with Charlie Chaplin's final speech in his 1940 film The Great Dictator. I discovered it through a dance piece by a friend in Bamako. In this speech, he urges us to banish everything that has to do with tyranny and to encourage each other to move towards a more harmonious society, a society awash with joy and peace. Through this passionate call for fraternity and the fight against oppression, I'm trying to evoke this link with war, to question this subject that intrigues me and to explore how we can move forward in a context where everyone must do their bit to eradicate this scourge.IN A CONTEXT MARKED BY RISING TENSIONS AND A GROWING SENSE OF INSECURITY FOR MANY COMMUNITIES, HOW DO YOU, AS AN ARTIST, MANAGE TO CAPTURE AND REPRESENT THESE REALITIES IN YOUR WORK?For this exhibition, I felt it was really important to represent these notions of growing insecurity in our society. This tension, which is present in several geographical areas of the world, is characterised by an immersive installation. It consists of a sky formed by red wires from which hang rusty bits of metal, shell casings and razor blades.The installation's sole aim is to convey the sense of insecurity and danger that hangs over the person walking through it. While they may try to ignore it, or may not even be aware of it, the danger is present and cannot be ignored in the long term.WHAT AESTHETIC OR SYMBOLIC CHOICES DO YOU MAKE TO CONVEY THE VULNERABILITY AND RESILIENCE OF PEOPLE?To express this feeling, I give the work a fragile visual aspect, while choosing delicate materials. Each piece, taken individually, seems alterable - they are made of cardboard, newspaper or cotton thread. But it's by putting them together that they become something very solid. I see human beings as a vulnerable, fragile species, who get anxious and tormented by political, financial and other issues. Even if we think we're mentally strong, I think there's a tipping point in all of us. It shows the fragility of our soul, and that's what I try to magnify in my work.We don't necessarily acquire this strength and resilience on our own, but by joining forces and sharing our know-how and skills. Together, we can create protection, symbolised here by the grigri, the object that embodies my work.THE USE OF NEWSPAPER IS AT THE HEART OF YOUR WORK AND ECHOES YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. CAN YOU TELL US A BIT MORE ABOUT IT?At first glance, I use this material as a tribute to my father, who was a printer. I grew up around newsprint, watching my father handle it on a daily basis. So incorporating this medium into my work became a reflex, an obvious choice. Newsprint came naturally to me. My work is nourished by a great deal of research, which helps me to constantly explore and enrich my practice using the materials available to me. After many trials, I realised that newsprint was the material that best suited my technique, to the point where it became my material of choice.THE NOTIONS OF PEACE AND HOPE ARE VERY PRESENT IN YOUR WORK; HOW DO YOU EXPRESS THEM VISUALLY?I'm interested in these notions by exploring them through amulets, original grigris that protect the wearer. Starting from the original meaning of these objects, I reinvent them in an artistic context. My aspiration is to create a harmonious universe, where the grigris embody individuals destined to coexist in a gentler, more melodious symbiosis. It's essential to support each other and create a movement of solidarity imbued with love and peace.CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT THE SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPORTANCE OF THESE AMULETS?Each particle of the grigris symbolises an individual, and putting them together gives shape to the links that bind us together in society. There is a key piece in the exhibition, a triptych, which represents this notion - Sollicitude - and on which I have reproduced, in my own way, the Egyptian symbol ankh. This symbol, in the shape of a cross, symbolises life. For me, it represents man as a whole and in society. And these amulets refer to beliefs in West Africa, particularly in Mali, where there is a traditional brotherhood of hunters known as the dozos, who are emblematic figures. These grigris, which are traditional objects, offer protection to hunter-gatherers and they inspire me a great deal in my work.COLOUR IS A CENTRAL ELEMENT IN YOUR WORK. WHAT DOES IT REPRESENT AND HOW DO THESE CHROMATIC CHOICES REINFORCE THE VISUAL NARRATIVE?My work is characterised by 3 or 4 dominant colours. In my work we find white, red, black and occasionally blue, which are divided into three stages. The first evokes a troubled period, personified by black, before arriving at a transitional period represented by red. This period is dotted with warnings, a quest, a journey on which there may be obstacles. It's a way of warning and preparing ourselves to overcome physical or mentally complicated trials.These trials are intended to lead us to a period of fulfilment and pacification, symbolised by the colour white. In my opinion, this is the ultimate period, which I call the hour of fulfilment.
YOUR ARTISTIC APPROACH IS A FORM OF PEACEFUL REBELLION AGAINST OPPRESSION. WHAT IMPACT DO YOU HOPE TO HAVE THROUGH YOUR WORK?
In my work, I aim to raise awareness and inspire deep reflection on issues of violence, security, and human vulnerability. Each piece serves as a mirror to our world, revealing the fractures, fears, and tensions within it. In a society where oppression manifests in countless ways—socially, politically, environmentally—I want my art to become a space for dialogue and awareness, where viewers are invited to feel as well as think. It’s a quiet yet profound act of resistance, calling for solidarity and collective reflection to help build a more harmonious society.
HOW HAS YOUR ARTISTIC APPROACH EVOLVED SINCE YOU STARTED OUT, AND WHAT ARE YOUR ASPIRATIONS / PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?
My artistic career has been marked by a continuous exploration of forms, materials and metaphors. When I started out, my work was above all intuitive, almost organic, like a raw response to the emotions and realities around me. Gradually, I felt the need to refine my approach, to give it structure and conceptual depth. For me, art became a language for expressing broader ideas, social issues and global concerns. Today, my work is more rooted in a reflection on the world around me, while retaining the spontaneous impulse that has always driven me.
In the future, I hope to take this exploration even further, by incorporating interactive and immersive elements.My plan is to explore the tensions in our world further, by tackling themes such as collective memory, the invisible links between individuals and universal struggles. My aim is to create spaces where art becomes a vehicle for dialogue, a gateway to collective awareness.
INTERVIEW WITH ANGE DAKOUO
Current viewing_room
