Seyni Awa Camara
Born c. 1945, Bignona, Senegal
Lives and works in Bignona, Senegal
Seni Awa Camara’s outlook on life is based on revealed truths, on timeless stories, on the world of human beings and the objects that surround them, and on her status as a Ouolof woman with an obligation to unite past and present. She was raised by her mother, who was also a potter, and who taught her sculpture when she was still a child. She had two twin brothers, and all three retreated into the forests of Casamançe to obey a mysterious and divine initiation. “We were sheltered by God’s spirits, who taught us to work with clay.” Camara models clay and gives shape to stories, events, and feelings that have been dreamt, revealed, or created from fantasy. She has gathered a substantial number of her sculptures in her home which could be described as a “theater without a stage,” full of objects and human figures placed according to size—ranging from examples less than twelve inches high to those which tower at eight feet. For Camara, her figures represent the world as she sees it, with people that are, good, bad, beautiful, or ugly. All these creatures are modeled in the yard in front of her house, and fired in an open-hearth kiln.
She explains the distorted faces of her creations as a response to our indifference to our ancestors. Or when forty small monsters are clinging to a pregnant mother, it’s because we’re all fleeing from something! Before unveiling her “secrets,” she locks herself in with her talisman (an ox-horn) and everything becomes possible. Regarding art, she answers: “I am thinking, I have an idea, I am working.”
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PUBLICATIONS
Joël Andrianomearisoa,
Pierre Bodo,
Filipe Branquinho,
Seyni Awa Camara
Mama Casset,
Chéri Samba,
Chéri Chérin,
Omar Victor Diop,
John Goba,
Romuald Hazoumè,
Kiripi Katembo,
Seydou Keïta,
Bodys Isek Kingelez,
JP Mika,
Moke,
J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere,
Gérard Quenum,
Amadou Sanogo,
Malick Sidibé,
Lumières africaines. L'élan contemporain
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Author : André Magnin & Mehdi Qotbi
Editor : Langages du sud
2017
Frédéric Bruly Bouabré,
Seyni Awa Camara
Chéri Samba,
Calixte Dakpogan,
John Goba,
Romuald Hazoumè,
Seydou Keïta,
Bodys Isek Kingelez,
Abu Bakarr Mansaray,
Moke,
Rigobert Nimi Mayuba,
J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere,
Malick Sidibé,
Les Initiés, un choix d'oeuvres (1989-2009) de la collection d'art contemporain africain de J. Pigozzi
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Author : Suzanne Pagé, André Magnin, Angeline Scherf, Ludovic Delalande
Editor : Fondation Louis Vuitton, Dilecta
2017
PRESS
Frédéric Bruly Bouabré,
Seyni Awa Camara,
Calixte Dakpogan,
John Goba,
Romuald Hazoumè,
Seydou Keïta,
Bodys Isek Kingelez
Les Initiés - Un choix d'oeuvres de la collection d'art africain de Jean Pigozzi (1989-2009)
Télérama
30.06.2017
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Seyni Awa Camara
Arts plastiques : Seyni Awa Camara, la "potière de Casamance"
Jeune Afrique
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By Sabrina Daniel-Calonne
23.06.2017
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Frédéric Bruly Bouabré,
Seyni Awa Camara,
Chéri Samba,
Calixte Dakpogan,
John Goba,
Romuald Hazoumè,
Seydou Keïta,
Bodys Isek Kingelez,
Abu Bakarr Mansaray,
Moke,
Rigobert Nimi Mayuba,
J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere,
Malick Sidibé
Les 15 meilleurs catalogues d'expositions de Paris
Evous
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By André Balbo
05.06.2017
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Seyni Awa Camara,
Chéri Samba,
Calixte Dakpogan,
John Goba,
Seydou Keïta,
Bodys Isek Kingelez,
Moke,
Rigobert Nimi Mayuba,
Malick Sidibé
Art/Africa: le nouvel atelier
Damn Magazine
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By Anna Sansom
01.06.2017
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Frédéric Bruly Bouabré,
Seyni Awa Camara,
Chéri Samba,
Calixte Dakpogan,
John Goba,
Romuald Hazoumè,
Seydou Keïta,
Bodys Isek Kingelez,
Abu Bakarr Mansaray,
Moke,
Rigobert Nimi Mayuba,
J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere,
Malick Sidibé
Les Initiés vous attendent à la Fondation Vuitton
Syma News
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By Florence Yeremian
26.05.2017
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Frédéric Bruly Bouabré,
Seyni Awa Camara,
Chéri Samba,
Calixte Dakpogan,
John Goba,
Romuald Hazoumè,
Seydou Keïta,
Bodys Isek Kingelez,
Abu Bakarr Mansaray,
Moke,
Rigobert Nimi Mayuba,
J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere,
Malick Sidibé
Exposition Art Afrique. Le nouvel atelier, à la Fondation Vuitton
Evous
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By André Balbo
20.05.2017
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Seyni Awa Camara,
Chéri Samba,
Calixte Dakpogan,
Romuald Hazoumè,
Seydou Keïta,
Moke,
Rigobert Nimi Mayuba,
J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere,
Malick Sidibé
L'Afrique en grand dans une triple exposition à la Fondation Louis Vuitton
Culturebox
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By Valérie Oddos
19.05.2017
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Frédéric Bruly Bouabré,
Seyni Awa Camara,
Chéri Samba,
Calixte Dakpogan,
John Goba,
Romuald Hazoumè,
Seydou Keïta,
Bodys Isek Kingelez,
Abu Bakarr Mansaray,
Moke,
J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere,
Malick Sidibé
L'incontournable collection Pigozzi, Portfolio
Le Monde Hors-série. Le printemps africain. Art/Afrique, le nouvel atelier à la Fondation LV
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By Suzanne Pagé
01.05.2017
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Frédéric Bruly Bouabré,
Seyni Awa Camara,
Chéri Samba,
Romuald Hazoumè,
Bodys Isek Kingelez,
Abu Bakarr Mansaray,
Malick Sidibé
Singularité et universalité de l'art africain
Le Monde
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By Philippe Dagen
28.04.2017
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Frédéric Bruly Bouabré,
Seyni Awa Camara,
Chéri Samba,
Romuald Hazoumè,
Bodys Isek Kingelez
Jean Pigozzi, collectionneur
Le Quotidien de l'art
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By Roxana Azimi
26.04.2017
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Frédéric Bruly Bouabré,
Seyni Awa Camara,
Chéri Samba,
John Goba,
Romuald Hazoumè,
Esther Mahlangu ,
Abu Bakarr Mansaray,
Malick Sidibé,
Cyprien Tokoudagba
A la recherche de l'art contemporain
Le Monde Afrique
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By Philippe Dagen
26.04.2017
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Amani Bodo,
Seyni Awa Camara,
Chéri Samba,
John Goba,
Romuald Hazoumè,
Bodys Isek Kingelez,
Moke
Jean Pigozzi, Chercheur de talents
Connaissance des arts
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By Guillaume Morel
01.02.2017
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Frédéric Bruly Bouabré,
Seyni Awa Camara,
Chéri Samba,
Calixte Dakpogan,
John Goba,
Romuald Hazoumè,
Seydou Keïta,
Bodys Isek Kingelez,
George Lilanga,
Abu Bakarr Mansaray,
Moke,
J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere,
Malick Sidibé
Avril 2017. Exposition Art Afrique. Le nouvel atelier
Evous
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By André Balbo
03.01.2017
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Frédéric Bruly Bouabré,
Seyni Awa Camara,
Chéri Samba,
Romuald Hazoumè,
Malick Sidibé
Art contemporain : chic, des Africains chez Vuitton !
Jeune Afrique
29.12.2016
Download: PDF
Seyni Awa Camara
What Else Is On In London During Frieze Week 2016
Artlyst
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By Paul Carey Kent
02.10.2016
Download: PDF
Seyni Awa Camara,
JP Mika,
Malick Sidibé
1:54 100% africaine, 100% contemporaine
Beaux-Arts Magazine
01.10.2016
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Seyni Awa Camara
Sénégal : Art + Casamance, un musée virtuel pour les arts plastiques de Ziguinchor
Jeune Afrique
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By Nicolas Michel
29.09.2016
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Frédéric Bruly Bouabré,
Seyni Awa Camara,
Chéri Samba,
Efiaimbelo,
Bodys Isek Kingelez,
Esther Mahlangu ,
Cyprien Tokoudagba
Histoires d'expositions. Magiciens de la Terre
Contemporary and
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By Julia Friedel
12.08.2016
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Born c. 1945, Bignona, Senegal
Lives and works in Bignona, Senegal