On Display at the FHI: Matar Ndour, "Signs and Symbols"

About the Artist: Matar Ndour

Matar Ndour is a Senegalese photographer with an unconventional career. He is one of those artists to whom photography is primarily the art of conveying an emotion, an encounter: it captures, more than an image, a moment in life. A discreet and receptive figure, he turned what once was a passion-fueled pastime into his way of life and now enjoys international recognition.

Matar Ndour was born in 1956 in Diourbel, Senegal, and is now based in Dakar. His career as a photographer started in 1987 with mundane subjects like motorsports, fashion, architecture, and manufacture.

It was in 1995 that he turned to artistic photography. His work was exhibited for the first time in 1996, at the Galerie 39 of the French Cultural Center in Dakar, as part of the “Mois de la photo” (“Month of Photography”).

Since then, his art has given him the opportunity to contribute to many exhibitions and live many wonderful experiences. In 2000, he presented portraits taken aboard a Dakar-Bamako train in the Dakar train station. In 2001, his work was exhibited in the Cheikh Anta Diop University library. In 2003, he presented his work onboard a running bus in Brittany (France) and contributed to the African Photography Encounters in Bamako, Mali.

Privileging public interaction and encounters over the more elitist environment of art galleries, Matar took part, in 2005, in a photography workshop organized by the Fondation Blachère in Joucas, France. Similarly, in 2009, he participated in a project related to the city of Bagnolet, France. His travels around the city and his conversations with its inhabitants materialized in original shots that offered a fresh look on the Parisian suburb. Matar produces portraits, photographs of buildings, of the city’s atmosphere and its quotidian elements to foreground beauty where it is least expected.

Always on the lookout for new projects, Matar currently works around the village of Bandafassi in the Kédougou region of Senegal. His goal is to foreground its inhabitants, an isolated and little-known community, through his photographic work.

An exhibition was devoted to his work from June to September 2010 as part of the Year of Africa at the Factory in Agen, France.

Signs and Symbols: Between imaginary and reality

These photographs are part of an ethno-photographic research project which consists of collecting anthropological data for the conservation, preservation and popularization of tangible and intangible heritage in the Casamance, precisely in the Kassa region located between Brin, Moulomp, Assam Sam, and Cap Skring.

The four photos relate to: marriage, wrestling, royalty and funerals in the Diola area of lower Casamance (understand the Southern part of Casamance region).

Marriage

Photo of a person holding a Ekonting, a stringed instrument from southern Senegal.

Marriage is symbolized by the Ekonting, a stringed instrument from southern Senegal, found exclusively in Guinea Bissau, Gambia and Casamance. Originally it was played at funerals, but the notes were so melodious that it ended up being dedicated to love.

This instrument known as the ancestor of the American Banjo can be found in different shapes: with round, or oval case.

The Wrestling Match

Two people playing flutes meant to signal wrestlers to fight.

Represented by the flutes, it signals to the two wrestlers an invitation “to fight”. The wrestling tournaments is a moment of meeting and fellowshipping between the village communities.

This is the moment to tie wedding engagements, and especially for the council of the wise, to know the state of mind and the good physical fitness of the youth to face the coming raining season. The only winner of the tournament is the village that has won the most fights in the different categories.

Royalty

A person wearing a red robe and hat. They are holding a cane and a bundle of dried grass.

The king without a throne, is rather called Preacher. Man: His majesty. He is the holder of the greatest fetish called the Elinkine. He is the interface between the fetish, God, and men.

He is the guarantor of peace and social cohesion. He formulates prayers and makes sacrifices for his community. The Diola society is egalitarian.

Their king is always dressed in red, which is the symbol of royalty, the strength and power of the bull.

Funerals

People carrying a shrouded corpse over their heads on a stretcher.

Sometimes the deceased can remain for days without being buried, the time to do the autopsy according to the Diola ritual if the death is natural, or if it was provoked.

The Diolas do not mourn the deceased, but they celebrate them according to their bravery and the exploits they accomplished during their existence.