Winner of the ellipse Prize 2021
Atelier Ndokette / Ibrahima Ndome
Atelier Ndokette is a three-artists collective created in 2019 between Dakar, Paris and Conakry.
Ibrahima Ndome / Atelier Ndokette collective, winner of the ellipse prize dedicated to Senegal
Ibrahima Ndome, Safi Niang and Souleymane Bachir Diaw use photography and stylism as principal media Ndokette, Senegalese word meaning tunic, represents for the collective, beyond a clothing tradition, a marker of the Senegalese cultural patrimony travelling through time.
The collective questions the temporality topic through photography, video and performance in search of the present moment, free of a recalled past and an idealized future.
Sensitivity through time and matter
“Ndokette Session” is the central project of the collective, composed by a series of photos and a short film born from the curiosity concerning the word “Ndokette”. This word and what it means are part of the Senegalese, and more broadly African, cultural heritage from which the three artists wanted to depict how sociocultural phenomenon resonate in them.
In this way, the collective has chosen to depict people, in a certain geographical area at a specific time, going through different stages of life. To do so, they use concepts linked to rituals to remind us of their importance, and put a question mark on beliefs and feelings. Through this work, they question, not to destroy, but to build and transition. It’s also a call to master the imaginary once again; not to dream it, fetishize it or consume it, but to live it fully, produce it and embrace it.
