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the Collector:
Négritude
16 december 2006 – 25 february 2007
Artist: Oumou Sy
Marres, Centre of Contemporary Art has started a series of projects, which focuses on the 19th century and three artistic positions; The Dandy, The Collector and The Dilettant.
It is within the framework of The Collectorthat Marres has approached the Prince Claus Fund for collaboration. Recently the director, Gustaf Beumer, was invited to join the Prince Claus Fund for a trip to the Dakar Biennale. It was there that they met Oumou Sy, laureate of the Prince Claus Fund and saw a fashion show with the intriguing title 'Négritude'. In a conversation afterwards Oumou Sy explained the background of this collection, the role of Sengor as the first president of Senegal and the ideas behind the notion of négritude.
During this trip the idea developed to organize an exhibition around Oumou Sy and to address the idea of Negritude within the framework of The Collector. An overall title that focuses firstly on the role of the private collector and his influence on the cultural infrastructure, but touches at the same time the more broader context of cultural and artistic values that developed in the 19th century and which have their impact on the current strategies behind public and private collections.
During the festivities around the jubilee of the Prince Claus Fund , the exhibition ‘Négritude’ will be opened at December 16th at Marres, consisting of several outfits of Oumou Sy and archive material of Sengor, discussing his ideas around ‘négritude’. In order to address this issue both from a historical perspective and in relations to it’s possible potential for the current discourse on issues of identity, culture and art, two lectures will be organized in close collaboration with the Prince Claus Fund. The first by Manthia Diawara, renowned scholar and Professor at the New York University, who will elaborate on the historical context of negritude and the second by Salah Hassan.
