Middle East & Africa

Cheikh N'Diaye

Adjamé Charbon

2014

Cheikh Ndiaye, Adjamé Charbon, 2014. Painting.

Adjamé Charbon by Cheikh Ndiayereflects on both global environmental discourses and domestic impacts of the use and trade of coal. Adjamé is one of ten urban communes of the city of Abidjan, the economic capital and city with the largest French-speaking populous in the Côte d’Ivoire. Employing vibrant colors to contrast the plastic jerrycans, children’s toys, and clothing strewn randomly throughout the shanty settlement with the darkness of coal is a challenging articulation of the image of progress and its environmental consequences today. Reflecting on the Africa Carbon Forum that was held in Abidjan in 2013, Adjamé Charbon mediates the image of clean development in a continent that has historically not benefited from the economic advancement of emissions trading.

The work of Cheikh N’Diaye traverses painting, photography, film and installation to discuss the future of obsolete objects. The artist’s oeuvre focuses on the subjective perspective of social and architectural ruins and the potential for their repossession. The artist challenges perspectives through reconsidering dispossessed objects, places and ideas and reclaims their potential as a vessel, whose function can be redefined as it is needed in society. Having been influenced by his childhood in Senegal, N’Diaye’s work examines social codes of knowledge, weaving in Senegalese legends and myths, to interrogate the legacy and future of African intellectualism.

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Cheikh N'Diaye Adjamé Charbon

Cheikh N'Diaye

Adjamé Charbon