Original Artwork by              
Abdoulaye Thiossane N'Diaye
of   SENEGAL, WEST AFRICA
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Original Artwork by
Abdoulaye Thiossane N’Diaye
Biography
Abdoulaye Thiossane N’Diaye is a world-renowned contemporary Senegalese artist.  The name ‘Thiossane’ means ancestry and tradition in Wolof, and appropriately suggests the themes of his life and work.  A multi-talented artist, Mr. N’Diaye has gained recognition in many areas of the arts.
 
Mr. N’Diaye was born in the village of Saam, Senegal to a family of traditional ‘griots,’ Senegalese historians, musicians and storytellers. He studied at the Senegalese National School of Fine Arts in Dakar, where he first gained recognition as a sculptor, then later as an actor.  He is also a musician and playwright, and is an important figure in the contemporary arts of Senegal.
 
As an artist-painter, Mr. N’Diaye works in a number of different media, including oil, gouache, chalk and pencil, and his completed works include tapestry designs, paintings, large wall murals, and illustrations for history texts.  His best known composition is the tapestry that set the theme for the Senegalese National Contemporary Art Exposition that toured Brazil, Mexico, the United States, and Canada from 1978 to 1981.
 
A recognized artist, Mr. N’Diaye became an official designer for the National Tapestry Gallery of Senegal in 1966.  While working there, a number of his original paintings appeared as tapestries, one became a national postage stamp and several appeared as illustrations of traditional Wolof folktales.
 
Certain themes appear and reappear in Mr. N’Diaye’s work, and here can be found both the genesis and the genius of his art.  Born in a family of oral historians and from a very traditional background, his themes and images spring from the very foundations of his culture:  legendary figures, historical personages, events of history, traditional spirits, folktale characters, legendary beings and the stories surrounding them, mystical events and traditional rituals, religious themes from Christianity, Islam, and indigenous religions of Senegal.
 
As a man steeped in Senegalese history and traditions, the variety and scope of his art stand unique among contemporary Senegalese artists.  His paintings and tapestries have been exhibited in twelve different countries over the past thirty years.

 
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