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Sanda creates ragged vulnerable ink on paper images based on Fulani nomad tattoo symbols. He came to painting by necessity. One day he came across a Fulani woman in a market who had a lot of tattoos on her face. Very impressed by these body marks, he decided as a Fulani man to explore the universe of these tangible symbols that fascinate and wonder. The artistic works of Sanda are generally based on the Fulani culture.
“My aim is to show to the world that pastoral nomadism is not a bad thing but a way of living, a full philosophy. It can contribute to environmental protection and economic development of a society.”
Sanda is born in Benin Republic in 1978 but he lives and works in Lagos. He is a holder of a Ph.D degree in Sociolinguistics (University of Ghana, Accra, republic of Ghana, June 2013). He has been fascinated by Fulani tattoos from his early age and after his high school certificate, he decided to explore and depict, as a Fulani man the universe of these impressive body marks.
His first solo exhibition was held in Nyamey (Republic of Niger) in 2002 at the Palais des Congres. The artistic works of Sanda are generally based on Fulani culture. He spent six years (1999-2005) working on Fulani tattoos and from 2005, he redirected his research on the nomadic Fulani herdsmen. He left his country in 2016 and settled in Lagos (Nigeria) to further his artistic aspiration.
Sanda’s works have been showcased at World Art Dubai in 2016 and at ARTX Lagos ( Nigeria). He took part to many collective exhibitions and Art fairs in Benin Republic, in Nigeria , in South Africa, in Senegal, in USA, in ASIA and in Europe.
His works, which are whole architectures, obey to a rigorous geometry. They are made up lines, circles, triangles and squares. Mathematical figures are used not to create a nuclear weapon but to express a feeling.
There is a burning desire to communicate with undefined phenomenal sketches and to leave the viewer with a glimpse of the essential unreality.
“Beyond the infnite”, Museum of African Diaspora, San Francisco, USA
“Univers inattendus”, John Herman’s Gallery, Cologne, Germany
“Bergers”, Chale Wote 2018, Accra, Ghana.
“Nomadic Fulani herdsmen”, Élizabeth Gallery, Dubai, UEA
“Fulani body marks”, Gallery La Suite, Cotonou, Republic of Benin
“Beyond the infnite”, Gallery la Suite, Cotonou, Republic of Benin
“Africa moves on”, Gallery AKA, Nyamey, Niger republic
“Symbolic universe of Fulani tattoos”, French cultural center, Parakou, Benin republic
Roots, OpenArtExchange, Schiedam, The Netherlands
“Retro Africa”, Generation Y, Abuja, Nigeria
African culture and Design Festivale, Lagos, Nigeria
“Doto et Sanda”, Institut français de Cotonou, Cotonou, République du Bénin.
Art X Lagos, Lagos state, Nigeria
World Art Dubai, Dubaï, EAU
Promo Art Jeunese Place des Martyrs, Cotonou, republic of Benin
OpenArtExchange, Schiedam, The Netherlands
OpenArtExchange is an independent international art gallery that aims to stimulate and connect promising contemporary visual artists from non-Western countries (particularly Africa, South America and Asia) with the western world of arts and culture.
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