The project Survival Kit is the fruit of a narrative that is both intimate and plural, shaped by my research into key moments in contemporary Senegalese painting between the 1960s and the 1990s. It is based on personal and family archives, inherited from my mother, the journalist and cultural activist Anne Jean Bart, and my father, El Hadji Sy, an exceptional painter and scenographer.
It was in 2019, in Dakar, after my mother’s death, that Survival Kit was born. By exploring her archives, in particular her writings published in the newspaper Le Soleil, I discovered a story told through her eyes, but also the contours of an artistic scene in which my father was a central player. From the 1980s onwards, this scene sought to emancipate itself from the state norms imposed by Léopold Sédar Senghor’s cultural vision.
Following in my father’s footsteps, I continued my research in Germany, where he himself had spent some time half a century earlier. Thanks to the Turn2 programme by the Kulturstiftung des Bundes , I was able to retrace his passage through Frankfurt and then Bayreuth, accessing the archives of museums that had exhibited his works and those of other Senegalese artists – from the Dakar School to the Génération de la Rupture. My journey continued at the Venice Biennale and in London, where I consulted the archives relating to Africa 95, a countrywide festival and exhibition in which he had participated.
These archives have revealed a mosaic of artistic movements, collectives and initiatives that continue to nourish the history of contemporary art in Senegal. However, this journey has been accompanied by a new awareness: that of a fragmented memory, scattered far from its places of origin. A memory archived elsewhere, in museums, institutions or private collections, raises questions about the circulation of knowledge, the economies of the archive and the ways in which it can be restored.
With Survival Kit, I’m embarking on an attempt to reappropriate a narrative and a memory that often eludes us. Survival Kit thus becomes a three-dimensional response – personal, historical, political – to the challenges of preserving and passing on our artistic heritage. It asks: how can we access this knowledge? Why do these stories remain confined? At a time when discourse on decolonisation is multiplying and restitution is becoming a global issue, it is urgent to ask: what is still holding back the return of works of art? And in whose interests?
It is from this perspective that Felwine Sarr’s thinking is particularly resonant. As he points out: ‘Restitution is not just about repairing a historical injustice. It is part of a wider process: that of reconciling with oneself, rebuilding a peaceful relationship with the world, and rehabilitating interrupted trajectories’.
His words shed light on the profound issues at stake in this process: restitution is not just about transferrine objects – it involves a symbolic, political and spiritual reconquest.
This exhibition marks a new stage in the curatorial investigation that began five years ago. It marks the start of a tour that will begin in June at the ifa Gallery Berlin, before moving on to Stuttgart in October. Conceived as a cross between curatorial research and heritage enhancement, it offers a panorama rooted in family memory, but driven by a collective ambition.
Survival Kit is not just a collection of objects or documents: it’s a fragment of living memory, a heritage in motion. Through this exhibition, I want to offer a fresh, international perspective on the works and stories that have shaped – and are still shaping – the Senegalese art scene. This dialogue between the intimate and the global invites us to rethink the way in which heritage, when it circulates beyond its origins, becomes a shared language, a vehicle for resilience, creativity and identity.
By intervening in these German cultural institutions, Survival Kit seeks to initiate an exchange around African archives and heritage. It explores the tensions, bridges and possibilities of restitution. In this sense, the Survival Kit is like a compass: a tool for navigating the complexities of contemporary creation, and a plea for archives to become drivers of the future, not just memory.
Curated by Ken Aïcha Sy
Assistant Curator Nikola Hartl
Under the patronage of UNESCO. This exhibition is organized in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS – Ken Aïcha Sy
I would like to express my deep gratitude to all those who have nourished, supported, and at times even challenged this research. To my mother, Anne Jean-Bart — the starting point of this journey — to whom this work is dedicated. Thank you to Alya Sebti, mentor and friend, for her unwavering trust. To the team — Nikola Hartl, Svenja Wolff, Ev Fischer, Stefano Ferlito, and Anna Ratcliffe. To Clémentine Deliss, for her sharp insight and steadfast encouragement. To my peers and companions in thought — Philipp Horn, Anna Helfer, Alexandra Kuhnke, Nick Bartlett and Bamba Diop — and to those whose every conversation helped me grow: Eyumane Baoulé Assengone, Massamba Mbaye, Alassane Mbengue, Sylvain Sankalé, and Felwine Sarr. Thank you for the illuminating exchanges.
A special thought goes to Djibril Anton, who left us a few months ago, but whose kindness and warmth continue to resonate.
To the artists who made history and generously shared part of it with me: Kan Si, Djibril Sy, and Abdoulaye Ndoye. And to my father, El Hadji Sy — whose presence, works, and silences are at the very heart of this research. By offering no shortcuts, he taught me endurance: it is no doubt through these detours that I find myself here, five years later.
This project could not have been possible without the generous support and collaboration of our institutional partners: ZK/U Berlin, Goethe-Institut Senegal, British Council Sénégal, Weltkulturen Museum Frankfurt, Iwalewahaus – University of Bayreuth, Villa Ndar, and the Institut Français du Sénégal.
