jilisakto Coming for Selfies, Staying for Art: Dakar’s Biennale Draws Young Crowd

Every two yearsjilisakto, the Dakar Biennale draws in wealthy collectors and stylish art aficionados, who show up at exhibitions in Senegal’s capital with sunglasses they’re too cool to take off.

But this year, a new kind of art lover is making what is already Africa’s hottest art show trendier still.

Increasingly, it’s Senegalese teenagers and young adults who are thronging Dakar’s Old Courthouse, the biennale’s main exhibition center.

They show up with dates or with friends after classes.

In flip-flops or shiny leather shoes.

In a neatly ironed linen shirt or a faded soccer jersey.

Wearing a flashy head scarf or tight leather pants.

For many of them, this year’s biennale represents their first contact with contemporary art, or at least the kind aimed at global connoisseurs.

“It’s fun, it’s free, it’s beautiful and it’s so Instagrammable,” said Sokna Mbene Thiam, a 17-year-old high school student who came on a recent afternoon with two classmates.

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• For
• jilisakto
• Coming
• Selfies
• Staying