By Jennifer Eberbach

Reprinted from CULTUREWEEK. (Bloomington, IN). April 2007

The IU Art Museum presents African Art Today, concurrent exhibits of works by two contemporary African artists. The exhibits will be on display in the Special Exhibitions Gallery, until May, 20^, 2007.

Mopti à la Mode: Photographs by Tijani Sitou

Tijani Sitou (1932 – 1999) ran a highly successful portrait studio, Photo Kodak, in Mopti, Mali, in the 1970’s and 1980’s, serving clients who sought to record special occasions and capture aspects of their social, ethnic and urban identities. The photographer used modern technologies, unique portrait studio techniques, and a wide variety of props and materials in order to emphasize what exhibition text writer Candace Keller describes as, “glamorized” aspects of his sitters’ identities.

Many of Sitou’s sitters used portrait photography to align themselves with popular trends, some of which followed the availability of European technologies and consumer items to Mali. The influence of global popular culture can be seen in photographs like Pele of Mopti, 1983, which images a young footballer in the latest 1980’s sports fashion.

Malians popularly use portrait photography to commemorate special events, which reveal aspects of their ethnic and religious backgrounds. For instance, in My Henna, 1983, a young woman adorned for her friend’s wedding poses in front of a solid-colored backdrop, in warm lighting. This simple composition draws attention to the details of her formal costuming and the dyed patterns on her palm.

Sitou’s portraits evidence that many of his clients incorporated ethnic or pre-colonial styles and traditions into their globalized identities. My Embroidered Boubou and Pretty Radio, 1978, shows a man dressed in contemporary local fashion, which is inspired by West African aesthetics. He holds a large boom box, an internationally recognizable symbol of what was cool in the 1980’s, suggesting that both elements are central to his identity.

Traces and Echoes: Mixed Media Paintings by Kalidou Sy

Senegalese born Kalidou Sy (1948 – 2005) created his series of mixed media paintings after moving to Bloomington in 1997. Between 1997 and his death in 2005, Sy lived in Bloomington, University Park, MD; New Orleans, LA and Dakar, Senegal. He incorporated a wide range of materials into his paintings, which he gathered from the environments he inhabited, in order to reflect upon his experience living in different locations around the United States.

The works in the exhibition include abstract compositions and representations of individuals, including members Sy’s friends and family. Sy created the works by thickly layering materials like burlap, paper, clay, acrylic paint, scraps of metal, and glass. Exhibition writer Joanna Grabski describes the influence of Neo-Expressionism on the artist’s formal style. She states that this influence can be seen in Sy’s “heavily textured incorporative works,” which use “intense saturations of color” and “salvaged materials.”

Grabski relates that only after moving to the United States did Sy realize the similarity between his technique and bogolan, a Malian practice of dying mud-cloth. He titled the works his Bogolan series, a title which reflects the appreciation of Africa that he gained while living abroad.

Sy explained that bogolan, “brings together natural materials such as clay, water, iron, vegetable extracts, etc., to create unique patterns on cloth. To me, bogolan means life present, past and future. By using this approach, I strive to bring together the subtle yet real traces of life present in color, matter and texture.”