Words and drawing inspired by the Dak’art Biennale 2016:

Africa in Bloom

utopia

city in the blue light

changing, growing

from within

So I’ve been following the Dak’art Biennale online (because I’m not able to travel to Senegal), so far I am keeping up to date via Instagram, with hashtags such as (you can click on them to explore):

#dakart2016

#dakart 

#dakarlives

#subabiennale

#dakartoff

#dakarbiennale 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFQpMJoLP1P/?taken-by=isabellaelhasan

But I don’t just want to be a spectator, I want to participate. So my ‘virtual attendance’ of Dak’art 2016 needs to be more than just following it form afar. I’m not a reporter, telling you what great artists are there right now, but I want to share the inspiration I draw form it. Hence the drawing of Africa in bloom.

So many things are happening in Senegal right now, not just the visual arts are exhibiting, there are dancers, musicians, poets, writers, philosophers…and not just from the continent, but also the African diaspora.

Nneka (Nigerian/German singer/songwriter) is one of my all time favourite musicians, I’ve been following her nearly from the start of her career. She was performing yesterday in Dakar, oh how I wish I would have been there!

This video is from 7 years ago in Philly, which captures her so well:

and another great performance from the beginning of her career:

I love her sincerity as an artist, she is committed to making music from the heart and won’t conform to expectations of the music industry.

Gonna leave you with a more recent performance here in the Netherlands:

Thanks for visiting my blog, I look forward to hear from you, if you have any tips or feedback, feel free to comment below or email me.

Much Love and Peace

Isabella