Middle East & Africa

Papa Ibra Tall

Semeuse d’étoiles

Papa Ibra Tall, La semeuse d'étoiles, w.d.

During the years of President Senghor, Papa Ibra Tall was influential in the cultural dimension of Senegalese politics, participating in the implementation of the Dakar School, a movement of artistic renewal born at the dawn of the country’s independence between 1960 and 1974 and which was encouraged by President Senghor. Papa Ibra Tall set out to transcribe ‘negritude’ in his works, according to Senghor’s definition in Problème de la Négritude: “To assume the values of civilization of the Black world, to actualize them and to fertilize them, if necessary with the foreign contributions, to live by oneself and for oneself, but also to make them live by and for others, thus bringing the contribution of the new Negroes to the civilization of the universal.”

A crucial figure in the history of African modernism, Papa Ibra Tall was a renowned tapestry weaver, painter, and illustrator. The artist was deeply involved with the Négritude movement, which protested colonialism; promoted African heritage, culture, and identity; and advocated for Pan-African and Afro-diasporic solidarity. After encountering this movement, as well as the American Black Jazz movement while studying in Paris in the 1950s, he returned to Senegal to found the École de Dakar with Iba Ndiaye and Pierre Lods in 1960, where he sought to encourage the development of an identifiable Pan-African lexicon. Tall's practice demonstrates his commitment to Négritude, as well as the development of his unique visual language, which he explored through various media. Featuring vibrant colors and sinuous lines that transverse the entire canvas, page, or tapestry, each mark or thread in Tall’s work is methodically and rhythmically placed.

Member Log-In

Papa Ibra Tall Semeuse d’étoiles

Papa Ibra Tall

Semeuse d’étoiles