Second biennial sculpture fair opens in Ouagadougou

The second edition of the International Biennial Sculpture exhibition has opened in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou.

The fair seeks to support the visibility of emerging and established African sculptors.

This year's edition has been dubbed "The Ambiguous Adventure" in reference to the novel by Cheikh Hamidou Kane, whose young hero, Samba Diallo, attempts to navigate between the soul of his country and the Western world with which he is confronted.

With this theme, artists were invited to express themselves on the complexity of identities in a post-globalization era.

Mauritanian artist Oumar Ball won the first prize of the jury. In his work entirely made from discarded metal, the artist created a hyena and a vulture, two unfriendly animals but which must co-exist in the same space. 

"The creature is entitled Chimera and which represents a meeting of two animals that share the same environment but are not friends so that they can share this adventure together

Tunisian artist Ferdaws Chamekh worked with clay from her country and that from Burkina Faso to create a piece that depicts intermarriages and inter-communal relations on the continent.

"Here we find the red earth of Mednine - it is a region in the south of Tunisia. Here it is the earth of Tabarka - it is a region in the North of Tunisia. And here is a mixture of the white earth of Tunisia and the black and yellow earth of Ouagadougou," Chamekh said during the exhibition at the French Institute in Burkina Faso's capital. 

Sahab Koanda who calls himself the ambassador of Ouagadougou's dustbins works exclusively with discarded articles.

In his work titled "the confinement of Africa", Koanda questions the ambiguous adventure of the destiny of the continent trapped by a desire to resemble the West.

"Africa is confined as you see the chain that has barred, blocked Africa. He can't go home because he is chained. Instead of living free and in dignity, he wants to live western while he is not western".

Eighteen artists representing ten countries were selected for this second edition. Their works are on show until November 6th.