Dak’Art Off. Between Local Art Forms and Global Art Canon Discourses.

Abstract

Critical considerations of the impact of biennials on artistic practices worldwide emphasize that they create new hegemonies: biennials produce another canon of contemporary art at a global scale. The main characteristic is art’s insertion into society, with the primacy of installation and participatory art forms. This article examines these assumptions in considering the art shown in the field of Dak’Art Off, an initiative of Dakar’s artists in opposition to the Biennale’s main venue, the Exposition internationale. Whereas installation art is preponderant in this latter space, exhibitions in the Off show largely paintings. To understand this discrepancy, one needs to view the history of modern art after Senegal’s independence. Furthermore, contemporary art’s characteristic of its insertion into society requires a differentiated analysis for this art world, as this aspect has been an objective throughout the history of modern and contemporary art in Senegal, though with changing meanings, artistic practices, and targeted public.