Kër Thiossane

Kër Thiossane

(Dakar, Senegal)

In 2001, the Daniel Langlois Foundation awarded a grant in the The Program for Organizations from Emerging Regions to the Kër Thiossane project.

The project is an initiative by Momar François Sylla, an artist/musician and leader of the band Bayefall. Located close to downtown Dakar in a neighbourhood called Sicap Liberté II, this new space is intended to be a place of initiation and discovery of new media, with the aim of incorporating them into other forms of artistic creation (music, dance, theatre, visual arts). The space attempts to unite the living arts with the digital, physical proximity with virtual globality, tradition and contemporaneousness.

The means: putting digital culture and creative tools within the reach of Senegalese artists and the residents of Sicap Liberté II. Kër Thiossane's goals will be attained through a variety of activities, such as multimedia introduction and training workshops, thematic and instructional workshops, residencies and artistic support.

The Foundation's financial support made it possible for Kër Thiossane to complete several projects, notably the workshop/performance pilot project Une Voyante m'a dit [A Seer Told Me], produced in partnership with Mains d'Œuvres / Artfactories and Dakar's École nationale des arts for the Dak'Art 2002 biennale; the purchase of computer equipment; the renovation of the villa that houses the space; and, finally, the production of the project's Web site. The space opened officially in September 2003.