Station Gare Mali, an example of a changing art practice
The inhabitants of district ACI 2000 in Bamako were surprised when they saw 18 long banners hanging down the façade of a two storey building still under construction. They bore texts in French, Bambara and Dutch in a lively confusion of symbols and colours. The artists had depicted in their very own way the Mali proverb Ce que la barbe dit le jour, le pagne l’ a décidé la nuit, and therewith the social and cultural relationship between men and women, the unending universal discussion, also in Mali. The passing comments were multitude. ’But of course, women have the final word’, ’No issue is that we live in harmony’, ’We women indeed end up having to do everything’.
The banners made by artists from Mali, Benin, Togo and the Netherlands were the result of a cultural exchange programme entitled Station Gare Mali, which took place in the Centre Soleil d’Afrique in Bamako, Mali. Station Gare Mali was an international art project with a focus on cooperation between artists from different countries and with diverse cultural backgrounds.
In Bamako, those involved in Station Gare Mali, wanted to go beyond the walls of the Centre Soleil d’Afrique. We wanted to hit the streets and look for possibilities with art in relation to architecture.
By showing Soleil d’Afrique’s indoor activities to the neighbourhood, we also tried to create public awareness about art.
Station Gare Mali also wanted to offer a podium and working space to the artists that reached beyond the usual boundaries: l ‘art sans frontières.
The artists Hama Goro, Joost van Haaften and Harald Schole were searching for common points of departure, while being open for creativity and recognising their diverse cultural backgrounds.
This way of working was not necessarily a guarantee for harmonious results, but that was part of the game. We were therefore happy that Arts Collaboratory put their trust in the project, in spite of an uncertain outcome, more so since we recognise that a predicted result is preferred by the subsidizers.
The Station Gare Mali concept however, was definitely not a wild adventure. It was intensively prepared over a period of two years.
cultural investments
In 1999, the Centre Soleil d’Afrique was initiated by Hama Goro. With his Centre, Goro wants to stimulate and support Malian artists and offer them an international framework. The Centre originated from the practice of Bogolan, the traditional Malian textile painting technique. In the years following it became an important cultural platform of exchange for Bamako, Mali and the surrounding countries. Over the past 10 years international workshops have been organised on painting, photography, sculpture, multi-media training, etc.
Curators, artists and other disciplines from all continents have since then visited the Centre Soleil d’Afrique. Its programs and potential justify the subtitle: International Centre for Contemporary Art.
proverbs
With our project Station Gare Mali we wanted to work together with African artists and to try to operate beyond common cultural frameworks. Mutual exchange was our main goal.
Station Gare Mali implies a meeting point and point of departure. Malian proverbs were our common vehicle, our train of thought. And the motor was our curiosity to meet different points and common grounds. The strong oral tradition in West Africa and Mali produces new wise sayings everyday making Malian proverbs a good start for cooperation.
There were three basic principles for the different workshops in the Centre Soleil d’Afrique: ‘Malian proverbs’, ‘art in relation to architecture’ and ‘public interaction’.
During the first workshop day, we all sat around the table with artists from Mali, Togo, Ivory Coast and the Netherlands. Discussing the collected Malian proverbs and sayings was a way to learn to know more about each others background and culture. Dozens of Malian sayings and proverbs were collected in the previous months by Malian and Dutch efforts. Using these proverbs was a hit in the bull’s eye.
cherchez la femme
In a philosophical way, the proverbs reflect and respond to everyday situations.
When we discussed the proverb Ce que la barbe dit le jour, le pagne l ’a décidé la nuit (translation in Dutch: Dat wat de baard overdag zegt, heeft de lendedoek ‘s nacht besloten, a gender variation on “Man proposes, God disposes”) a long and tempestuous debate was the result. The position and the role of women in society appeared to be an important subject among the artists.
Some artists stood up gesticulating emotionally about the importance of the power of women. The female artists, in their turn, responded in a more modest but no less determined way. They agreed, but as a proverb is subject to many nuances, it was spontaneously and extensively discussed by the whole group. And finally, the discussion changed into a debate on, to what extent, the women in Malian society have the power. Many daily tasks rest on their shoulders, also in these modern times and in 21st century Bamako. The men agree that women take care of everything both in and outside the house. One of the participating female artists said: “With a stone, a woman can create an oven”.
Often, women advise their husbands when decisions are taken. But, as the proverb says, they do this imperceptibly and between the lines.
Finally, when it came to choosing a proverb to depict visually, this proverb was democratically chosen by the artists to create their individual work.
The combination of text and image produced strong and diverse results. Ibrahima Diakité (DIAK) worked in a graphic and colourful way; Hama Goro, Mamadou Amadou Keita, Bourama Diakité andDjenebá Modul Ly, among others, used symbolic signs in Bogolan technique and Youssouf Keita worked with a mixture of techniques. Amadou Sanogo, Tary Keita, Aissata Dao and Amsatou Diallo preferred to use acrylic paint. It offered them the infinite variety in colour while bogolan is limited to natural dyes. All possible artistic approaches were applied: sober, abstract, realistic, etcetera.
That week, 18 very diverse works all responding to the proverb, were produced. Several Malian artists used the Bambara version (the local language) of the proverb, in which it is translated as Tulu ka la b3se bonbosi la.
Together, we hung the works on the outer wall of the two-storey building still under construction, opposite the Centre Soleil d’Afrique. Passers-by stopped, looked and gave their spontaneous response. Ibrahima Diakité and Ouassa Pangassy Sangare then decided to form a team in which Diakité took the role of the journalist and Sangaré, being a photographer and video artist, recorded the people’s reactions.
the tail end
The unexpectedly powerful results of the first workshop did not automatically result in a flying start for the second workshop which took place three weeks later.
On that Monday morning, only a small group of participants arrived. Many appeared to have other obligations, as Hama Goro had already warned us. Maybe our expectations were too high, being so impressed by the energy of the first workshop week and the richness of the Malian culture that we had experienced the previous weeks. That Monday afternoon, we drove back to our hotel, somewhat disappointed.
In the taxi, Joost and I decided that the next day we would consider the messy roof of the Centre Soleil d’Afrique our domain. Our intention was to clear it up and by so doing, to show that we also can work very well with found materials which would definitely be available after cleaning up.
The next day, before starting, we were happy to find out that the photo camera’s we had given to the Centre, three weeks earlier, were being intensively used by several artists. Amsatou Diallo had not only been documenting the workshop process, she had continued to experiment with the camera, as did Ibrahima Diakité.
And more good news, the artists were back. We could continue.
transformation of the Centre Soleil d’Afrique into a Station Gare Mali
Together with Hama Goro and the other artists we discussed how we could transform the Centre Soleil d’Afrique and its surroundings into a splendid Station Gare Mali by making use of the three ingredients we had been working with up till then: the proverbs, art and architecture and the idea of interaction with the public.
The challenge of a transformation into a Station Gare Mali encouraged and excited the participants.
The ideas flowed.
The artists of Afric ’Art Réveil, Georges Djodji Akibode and Richard Ahouangassi and Fidel Sossou were to perform together. Akibode would recite a poem to the music of his group members and together they planned a ‘Mama Africa’ performance with their marionettes and music. Amara Sylla came up with the idea of an installation with water-carriers. Amadou Sanogo decided to produce a large black and white wall drawing, as a continuation of his earlier ‘proverb’ work, in which he would depict the Malian family life in abstract shapes. Of the many sketches Ibrahima Diakité made in the meantime, his la femme noir was chosen to come alive in the inner courtyard by using hundreds of pieces of coloured cloths, leftovers bought from several tailors in Bamako. After an intensive discussion with Yacouba Lam, we concluded that the work come to its best high up on the outside wall of the building in a red painted frame.
And with the idea to turn the Centre Soleil d’Afrique into a gare, with the hubbub and liveliness of a train station everyone set to work. With the few means available, all artists got stuck in hammer and tongs.
Finally, the artistic content and the physical surroundings matched perfectly.
The metaphor of a busy railway station where goods and people come together, where people meet,, talk, discuss the merchandise, the family situation and politics, became reality. All artists found their way to deal with the topic.
Temporary installations, assemblages, paintings, photographs, video, sculptures, wall objects, a reflection of the urban landscape on the roof and a great marionette show and on the walls of the building across the street, still under construction, the 18 large banners about the proverb Ce que la barbe dit le jour, le pagne l’a décidé la nuit were put into place.
On the roof, Joost and I created an interpretation of the city, entitled Delirious Bamako (after Rem Koolhaas), with a horizon in an optimistic green. The work is based on the proverb Les champs au bout des collines ressemblent plus verts or Le paysage dehors l’horizon ressemble toujours plus vert' (“The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence”).
New perspectives and another view on artistic possibilities were presented and embedded in the process of this transformation and an apparently effortless Station Gare Mali was realised with the efforts and organisational support of the Centre Soleil d’Afrique by Hama Goro and with technical support of Mamadou Amadou Keita and Bourama Diakité. All their support was great, and of course that of all the participants involved.
to conclude
Hama Goro runs his centre for more than ten years, a milestone, especially if you consider the often complicated African conditions. The unpretentious building of the Centre Soleil d’Afrique, since its start in 1999, is still on a dirt road in the now booming district ACI 2000 in the western part of Bamako. And now, after a decade, it deserves some fresh paint; it’s worth it*). However, it is understandable that there are other – the artistic – priorities. While working together with the African artists and also while travelling through Mali, Joost and I realised that contemporary European terms such as `cradle to cradle' and ’inventive design'; the innovative use of sparse materials, are in Mali daily wisdoms.
The workshops and the exhibition are examples of how one can enrich artistic thinking. Besides this, the exhibition shows how the artists, inventively and with common efforts, have transformed the premises of the Centre Soleil d’Afrique into an exiting and diverse Station Gare Mali.
Harald SCHOLE
Amsterdam 2009
*) I just saw on some pictures that the walls of the Centre Soleil d’Afrique are fresh painted.
The book STATION GARE MALI , 52 pages, English/French, contains also an article by Paul Davis, art historian.
Photos and videos of Station Gare Mali are till 03JAN10 in the Mali Pavilion of the Amsterdam Biennial, Mediamatic, Vijzelgracht, Amsterdam
And from Februari 2010 a part of the exhibition Station Gare Mali can be seen in the office of HIVOS, Raamweg 16, The Hague
