Sandaga project: Dem Dikk/Viavai

2024

Italian Institute of Culture, Dakar

An investigation on the historical ‘Sandaga market’ in Dakar (Senegal), the city’s most important popular market, the heart of the informal economy, which continues to live and survive in its informal community despite its complete demolition and ongoing construction. We aimed to capture the rhythmic identity of Sandaga Market by immersing ourselves in its daily life, experiencing the market and its people, and recording their activities. We also purchased and collected materials sold there, tracing the origins of this place, which thrives on informal interactions and serves as a hub for relationships that extend beyond its physical boundaries. The market was once housed in a neo-Sudanese architectural structure, built between 1933 and 1935, and was demolished in 2021. The complexity of the market was presented in the exhibition Dem Dikk/Viavai, curated by Mohamed A. Cissé, through three different works in Dakar (Sandaga’s rhythm, Architectures sociales and Cri) and a remote performance in Seoul (Sandaga Market).

Sandaga’s rhythm
It’s an interactive light installation reproducing the coming and going of people during the day recorded at the Sandaga market, influenced by the exhibition visitors.

Architectures sociales
Two blocks of reinforced concrete retaining traces of broken tiles from the ‘carreaux cassés’ floors and fragments of leather sold at the market—artifacts perhaps from the ‘Sandaga construction site’—tell the story of the humanity that inhabited that place, its fluidity, and its constant metamorphosis.

Cri,50x35x35 cm, showcase with flower,cicada wings, and mixed flowers
The title “Cri,” meaning “cry” in French, refers to the chirping sound of cicadas, likened to the constant hum of the market where merchants and customers’ voices blend. The work, a small architectural piece made with actual parts of Dakarian flowers and insects, represents the heterogeneous balance that characterizes that market.

Sandaga Market
Remote performance part of the exhibition ‘The Threshold under Turbine Vents’ at the Sunblanket Foundation in Seoul, staging the remote memory of the market. The alternating black and white frames reproduce the comings and goings in the dakariota market recorded in February. This bright rhythm is accompanied by the buzz of the market.

Project funded by the Italian Institute of Culture in Dakar