Afrikoyo e: The Floating Worlds of Ousmane Bâ is a living archive, a testimony of an inner and geographic journey shaped by the years I spent in Japan. In this new body of work, I conjure a dreamed Africa and blend it with an ancient Japan, two worlds that, in my eyes, share unexpected resonances.

Through collage on traditional washi paper, I float bodies, memories, and symbols to create new aesthetic solidarities between East and South, a visual territory that had yet to be imagined.

With ritual African motifs, reimagined ukiyo e aesthetics, hybrid silhouettes, and the vibrating textures of raw materials, each piece becomes an attempt at transformation, poetic and political. These are portals to rethink art histories, layered identities, and shared inheritances.

Afrikoyo e is not just a wordplay. It is a bridge between Dakar and Kyoto, Saint Louis and Tokyo, a cartography both intimate and universal. It speaks to diasporas, collectors, and artists searching for new visual languages.

Sincerely,

Ousmane