Run, an Italian artist based in London, recently traveled through West Africa painting in The Gambia via Wide Open Walls and in Dakar, Senegal via the Yattal Art Association.
We asked him about his experience…
“The experience was amazing, I met loads of incredible people and they helped me with finding walls and speaking the local dialect.”
“I’m looking forward to go back and explore more, there are so many other parts of Africa that I would like to visit.”
“…there is not much of what we call ‘street art’…”
“It’s a reward for me and for my work to be there, it has been one of the biggest and deepest experiences of my life.”
With his bright, colourful and highly detailed stencils, Christian Guémy a.k.a C215, is probably one of the worlds best stencil artists. A graffiti artist for over 20 years, he put up his first stencil in 2006 and has since painted in cities all across Europe as well as in India and South America. His work mainly focuses on portraiture and has been featured inside many galleries across the globe.
Hailing from France, C215 has crossed the Mediterranean on more than one occasion, painting in the streets of African countries Morocco and Senegal. One thing he is known for is not going out to paint, but taking his paint with him - everywhere he goes!
Since the first phase of the project was a success, the collective created new works around the city in December 2011. We hope to see the project growing in the years to come as well as seeing new street artists emerging from the streets of Dakar.
As mentioned in a post earlier this year, the second phase of the DK “R” project will take place in November and December 2011. This time round the artists Jérôme Désert (Belgium) and Jerome Maillet aka Jeronimo (France) will collaborate with two Senegalese artists; Mamadou Diallo Sadio (SAADIO) and Barkinado BOCOUM.
Here are more videos from the first phase of the project which took place in April and May 2011:
The DK “R” project is a street art project in Dakar, Senegal. The two artists behind the project are Jérôme Désert (Belgium) and Jerome Maillet aka Jeronimo (France).
Jeronimo lived in Dakar between 2007 and 2009 and Jerome made a trip to Senegal in 2010. Both artists had a common desire to talk about identity, movement, energy and the people of Dakar directly on the walls.
The city became their canvas as they left the gallery space and plastered many walls with large format images of the people. The first stage of the project took place in April and May 2011.
The second phase of the DK “R” project takes place in November and December 2011 in collaboration with two Senegalese artists; Mamadou Diallo Sadio (SAADIO) and Barkinado BOCOUM. They will help Jerome and Jeronimo because they are very familiar with the city. This time they will split into two pairs to cover more ground.
During this second phase, from November 20 to December 15, an interaction with the public and the owners of the walls will be identified. The artists will interview the locals and gather oral evidence of the history and current events of the walls on which interventions take place. These stories will then be transcribed (in fragments) and inserted into the monumental compositions using typography cut on site. The participation of the people will form an integral part in the project, manifesting greater relevance and enabling local residents to have their say.
All the artists will make drawings in their respective workshops, thus keeping their own point of view. All compositions and associations of the pasted drawings will be improvised on the walls, leaving a possibility of interaction with the places and people. The walls covered will be between 5 and 7 meters high, each collage becoming its very own urban event.
