My Dak'Art Experience by-Richardson Ovbiebo

Swedish curator (unnamed), artists Samba Fall
and Richardson Ovbiebo

Travelling out of my country for the first time was not just exciting but also educative and enlightening because I was launched into a country that was Francophone and also was holding a visual art in Africa DAK’ART 2008. It also made me understand the importance of not just understanding French but also other languages if one wants to operate in the global sphere.

The biennale introduced me to a lot of new artforms, media, artists and practices such as video art which I had only read about in magazines or books. The frequent art discussions that were held within the programme were informative as serious issues that affect
art both in Africa and other parts of the world were discussed by art histtorians, curators, critics, artists, journalists and gallery owners. The exhibits within the Biennale and the OFF Exhibitions were very enlightening as artists young and old gave their views on life, society, culture using the various meda to express themselves. The documentary film Maison Tropicale by Manthia Diawara marked the highlight of the biennale for me. The film generated important questions about Africans and modern architecture, how people respond to what they do not understand, how we treat our cultural heritage and how do we see ourselves as Africans. Richardson Ovbiebo is a recent fine art graduate (Sculptor Major) from the Yabatech, Lagos.