Alioune Diagne
60th Biennale di Venezia
For its first participation, Senegal has selected the artist Alioune Diagne to represent his country at the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia from April 20 to November 24, 2024.
The project, titled Bokk – Bounds, conceived by Alioune Diagne and curator Massamba Mbaye is a response to the theme of the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere. In Wolof, Bokk means “what is shared”, “held in common”, as well as family ties. The term Mbokk, linguistically related to Bokk and denoting kinship and brotherhood, is also central to their reflections.
Néggandiku – Transition
On the occasion of Alioune Diagne‘s participation to the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere, TEMPLON publishes a catalogue depicting the artist’s phenomenal installation.
The artist
Born in 1985 in Kaffrine, Senegal, Alioune Diagne lives and works in Senegal and France. After studying at the Dakar École des Beaux-Arts in 2008, Alioune Diagne developed an imaginary script as a universal language and intimate account of fragments of his life in Dakar and on his travels. A socially engaged artist, he opens the door to a deep-seated exploration of the major challenges facing the world today: ecology, the place of women in society, racism and the notions of transmission and heritage. His work has featured in a variety of solo and group exhibitions in Europe, Africa and Asia since 2011, including Sink or Swim at the 11th Dakar Biennale, Villa Spivey, Dakar, Senegal (2014), Itinéraire en Couleurs at Espace Jean Drevon, Saint-Jean-de-Bournay, France (2014), the
off-site show at Art Basel, Switzerland (2017), and Un nouveau regard, Aosta, Italy (2017). His work has also been part of the national art collection of Senegal since 2019 and featured in the 2022 Dakar biennale exhibition at the national theatre in Dakar. In 2023 he won the Norval Foundation Public Vote Prize and saw his work exhibited in the Netherlands as part of the group exhibition Africa Supernova and at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen with the solo exhibition Ndox-Glint. Galerie Templon in Paris held the Seede exhibition of his work in January 2024. And in April 2024 the artist had the honour of representing his country on the Senegalese pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale international art exhibition with the project Bokk - Bounds. He has been represented by Galerie
Templon since 2022.
