Gnanamaya 14th edition meetings

Yapaud will participate in the Gnanamaya International Contemporary Art Meetings which will be held from January 17 to 21, 2022 in Bobo Dioulasso in Burkina Faso.

The Rencontres Gnanamaya , Seconde Vie en Dioula have been the annual plastic arts meeting in Burkina Faso since 2007. At the initiative of the Burkinabé visual artist Issouf Diero , these international contemporary art meetings bring together professional visual artists from Africa. from the West, Europe and elsewhere who mainly work with recycled materials . For five days, the artists will settle in a creation residency at the French Institute of Bobo-Dioulasso to work with iron, tire, plastic, paper, wood, etc. In various places, the artists will present original works, created especially for the Gnanamaya Meetings and will lead workshops with the public, especially children. At the end of the week, at the end of the festival, the works from the Residence will be presented at the French Institute of Bobo-Dioulasso in Burkina Faso (IFBF).

For two years, crowdfunding campaigns have succeeded in raising more than 1000 euros to support this contemporary art festival. This money is vital for the survival of this project, especially in the difficult global context that we are going through. The French Institute of Bobo-Dioulasso is the historical partner of the Rencontres, providing places of creation and exhibition for the artists. Equipment, food, transport and accommodation costs for participating artists, setting up workshops for children ... your support is essential! The Gnanamaya festival needs you more than ever.

In 2022, the program of international meetings provides for:

• An exhibition : the 17 invited artists exhibit three works in three exhibition venues in Bobo-Dioulasso.
• Original creations : a creative residency in the gardens of the IFBF-Bobo for a week.
• A conference-debate on the theme of the Gnanamaya meeting: "Creation: leaving, staying, traveling"
• Training workshops in different artistic techniques and in particular on the upcycling of recycled materials, drawing workshop for young audiences.
• Meetings on the promotion of artistic creation: communication tools, exhibition setup ...

The specific objectives of the festival are:

• Offer a place of expression, collective creation, initiation and artistic improvement;
• Create opportunities for education in plastic arts and training of young talents;
• Discover new talents; and support artists who are in the artistic process
• Promote exchange between artists of all disciplines;
• Promote South-South and North-South exchanges.