Discothèque municipale
Diakene Ouloff, Casamance
Senegal, December 2024
I was invited by the Casamance Centre Culturel and Ekol Senegal to design a mural painting program in the village of Diakene Ouloff. The focus of the workshop was on integrating mural paintings into their surroundings—both architectural and social.
Ten participants, mostly from Spain, signed up for the one week program. We spent the first four days of the workshop exploring the area to find inspiration in order to design a mural that would resonate with its environment. After days of observation and note-taking, we decided to focus on everyday objects. Their shapes are simple and functional, and everyone have them in their house, which perfectly aligned with our concept. Using these forms, we then worked on selecting a color palette that harmonized with the surroundings. To finalize the design, we created a simple generative process that randomly determined which shape and color would be painted in each cell of the wall. Once we started painting, villagers passing by spontaneously stopped to paint shapes with us.
Big thanks to Mariana, Xabi, Lamine, Bamoussa, Endaye, Boy, Bea, Amadou, Elena and her family, Pana, Salva and Lucas.
To the incredible participants (in alphabetical order): Ana, Cris, Cris, Lea, Marcel, Marina, Mario, Sierra, Tess, and Vera.
And, of course, to everyone in the village of Diakène for their kindness, warmth, and gratitude for the mural.
https://casamance.cc (@c.casamance)
https://www.ekolsenegal.org (@ekolsenegal)