Shot in Dakar, Senegal MEMORIES OF WHAT BECAME A DESERT depicts two people who are scared to face their unbridgeable emotional distance. Through dance, language and space it explores the growing separation between its protagonists. Starring: Shelly Ohene-Nyako, Babacar Mané Music composition: Ilias Kampanis Voice recording: Samia Sayah
Soly Cissé is one of the most renowned artists in Senegal. With his monumental expressionist paintings and sculptures he’s a huge success in his country and in the international world of contemporary arts. During the couple of hours we spent with him, he showed us around in the studio in his backyard.
In a popular suburb of Dakar, workers on the construction site of a futuristic tower, without pay for months, decide to leave the country by the ocean for a better future. Among them is Souleiman, the lover of Ada, promised to another.
The video is a soulful journey through the vibrant streets of Dakar, Senegal, as we explore what makes home truly special. Models: Ndey Buri, Gora, Prince Uh Elhadi, Mame Diarra
Born in 1971 in Ziguinchor, Senegal. He lives and works in Keur Massar, Senegal. Once graduated from the Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts in Dakar in 2001, Kassou Seydou took part in a two years residencies in Joal-Fadiouth, place of birth of Léopold Sedar Senghor, organized by the association ‘‘Portes et passages du retour’’. Starting from the observation that all things are scripts and that a script is a distorted line, Kassou Seydou conceptualizes it through a reproduction of constant circular shapes. Poetic and similar to narration, the work of this Senegalese painter unveils his view of an altered and much more complex world : Kassou Seydou exposes a disordered world using a warm color scheme and lively characters.
i-D meets the people pushing Dakar’s creative scene forward, from fashion designer Mimi Plange to the Creative Director of Orange Culture Nigeria, Adebayo Oke-Lawal. Here, they discuss the evolving fashion landscape of Senegal. From queuing to see the tailor on the corner of the street where she first learned about fashion to opening her own studio, Diarra Bousso, the fashion designer behind DIARRABLU expands on the importance of bringing the Senegalese culture to an international audience. In the same vein, Adama Paris, the founder and producer behind Dakar Fashion Week shares her motivation for bringing together and giving a platform to young African designers, whilst photographer and model Malick Bodian reflects on his own journey to being inspired by the beautiful things that surround him in his hometown. We also attended the show of French fashion house CHANEL, who made fashion history this season when they presented their latest Métiers d’art collection in Dakar, at the former Palais de Justice on the island of Gorée. Rapper, Singer and Producer, Pharrell Williams who was in attendance tells i-D, “it was a dream of mine to be somewhere here and I am so glad they chose Senegal”.
Chanel held their latet show against the majestic backdrop of Dakar’s former Palais de Justice, with its rhythmic columns and sunlit inner garden. The collection celebrates the spirit of the 1970s with silhouettes with vibrating colours and richly ornate embroideries of beads and sequins, textured tweeds and floral motives. Silhouettes are finessed with beaded sautoirs layered with sparkling pendants and bold belt buckles adorned with Mademoiselle Chanel’s lion. Imagined by Virginie Viard and crafted between the CHANEL Ready-to Wear ateliers in Paris and the Maisons d’art of 𝘭𝘦19M, the 2022/23 Métiers d'art CHANEL – DAKAR collection is the result of multiple meetings over the past three years between Virginie Viard and artists of all backgrounds: the choreographer Dimitri Chamblas who called on Germaine Acogny’s École des Sables dancers, but also directors, musicians and writers, all together with friends of the House. The show is part of a vast cultural programme and the starting point of an ongoing exchange between the House and Senegal.
Featuring Birane Ba from the Comédie Française With Phlippe Samb Bakary Maiga Amadou Diop Birame Faye Djiby Mbaye El Hadj Malick Ndiaye Isidore Bass Line producer: Aude Mazas 1st Camera assistant: Nina Trubert Gaffer: Thibaut Danjou Steadycamer: Sacha Naceri Drone: Gary Bialas Service production: Iconoclast Africa Production coordinator: Astou Diouf 2nd camera assistant: Loic Hocquet Gaffer: Pape Sarr Grip: Mahamadou Camara Location manager: Mamadou Lamine Doucouré Mastered by Alex Gopher
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