SEYNI AWA CAMARA

Centaur Seyni Awa Camara Terracotta sculpture mythology animal African art earth

2008

Born in 1939, Seyni Awa CAMARA is an African artist whose works travel the world. Senegalese, originally from Casamance, she lives in a small village lost in the heart of the forest. It is in Bignona that Seyni works in her tin-roofed house. She is the living legend of her village. Away from the turmoils of the community, she lives with her family, constantly working since the time when she and her two brothers were initiated into their art by the spirits of the forest. Her life and work are imbued with a mysticism inherent to mischievous spirits and animist practices that characterize village Africa.Indeed, in adolescence, all three were abducted by the spirits of the forest. During this apprenticeship into the mysteries of clay, the entire village decided to sacrifice a few animals to appease the spirits, so that Seyni and her twin brothers would finally return. And according to legend, that was the case… Since then, Seyni has continuously been sculpting thousands of characters, men, women, and animals of all kinds, giving free rein to her imagination, bringing to life a cosmogony that is uniquely her own. The works of the little potter from Bignona have made their mark. Exhibited in numerous Western modern art museums, presented at the Centre Pompidou in 1989, and at the Venice Biennale in 2001, Seyni CAMARA’s work has gained recognition beyond borders. The reason for this transnational fascination with her art lies in that small part of the spirit that is common to all humans: the sincerity of emotions.