Bocar Niang

Bocar Niang was born into a griot family on June 8, 1987 in Tambacounda, Senegal. He holds a Master’s degree in arts and culture from the Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar and the École nationale supérieure d’arts de Paris-Cergy. He is currently developing a thesis on research and artistic creation within the RADIAN doctoral program. Founder of the Musée griot in Senegal and its branches in France, he has also been artistic director of the Tamba Jeunes Talents Festival in Senegal since 2008, and of the Nekkalante Festival in France since 2018. His multidisciplinary work combines orality, installation, writing, sculpture, film, video and music. It has been presented at the Centre Pompidou, Palais de Tokyo, Fondation Ricard, Dakar Biennale, Cenon Biennale, Ygrec-Ensapc, Laboratoires d’Aubervillers and Musée Théodore Monod in Dakar, among others.

The project at Villa Medici is divided into two parts: on the one hand, the production of narratives and oral/sound performances aimed at developing narratives of objects and works, and fortifying the links between individuals, mobilities, and their contexts and territories. These narratives take place through multilingual readings, podcasts, declamations of writings and the creation of sound works on the collections, landscapes or legends of the Villa Medici and the city of Rome. Secondly, the creation of a series of sculptures entitled Babyfoot, made up of 44 drawings and models of individuals, whose characters come from different countries around the world.