Seyni Awa Camara (born In 1939): Maternity

SEYNI AWA CAMARA (born in 1939) Maternity Terracotta Height 36 cm Width: 16 cm Depth: 18 cm In perfect condition. Provenance: Private collection, Le Havre Acquired in Senegal in the 1980s Born in 1939, Seyni CAMARA is an African artist whose works travel the world. Senegalese, originally from Casamance, she lives in a small village lost in the heart of the forest. It is in Bignona that Seyni works in her tin-roofed house. She is the living legend of her village. Far from the turpitudes of the community, she lives with her family, working constantly since the time when she and her two brothers were introduced to their art by the spirits of the forest. His life and work are imbued with a mysticism inherent to the mischievous spirits and animist practices that characterize village Africa. Indeed, as teenagers, all three were kidnapped by the spirits of the forest. During this learning of the mysteries of clay, the entire village decided to sacrifice a few animals to appease the spirits, so that Seyni and her twin brothers would finally return. And this was the case, according to legend... Since then, Seyni has continued to model thousands of characters, men, women, animals of all kinds, giving free rein to his imagination, putting into volumes a cosmogony of his own. The works of the little potter from Bignona have made their way. Exhibited in numerous Western modern art museums, presented at the Center Pompidou in 1989, at the Venice Biennale in 2001, the notoriety of Seyni CAMARA's work has transcended borders. The reason for this transnational fascination with his art can be explained by this small part of the mind which is common to all men: the sincerity of emotions.