The Burkinabe capital has been hosting the 1st edition of the International Sculpture Biennial of Ouagadougou (BISO) since October 8 and until November 15, 2019. 17 young creators and artists from 11 countries exhibit their diverse works at the French Institute in Ouagadougou. "Dare to invent the future" is the theme chosen for the different creations.
African sculpture in all its forms and diversity is exhibited in Ouagadougou, a first in the world, to discover in one place and for more than a month the facets of sculpture from the African continent. BISO, as its initiator Nyaba Ouédraogo indicated, was born to fill a void: “As Africans, we have always known art through sculpture. If you come into our parents' house in the village, you will see a piece of wood here and there (…) Sculpture is the art of our ancestors and we as young people our duty is to 'talk about. This is why I borrowed the famous phase of Thomas Sankara, we must dare to invent the future. So it's an invitation to African artists to reclaim their culture and show the world who we are ”.
The objective of this biennial is first and foremost to be a platform dedicated to promoting the work of contemporary African sculptors. Then, it allows to present to amateur and informed audiences, "the richness of African artistic production in sculpture".
To reward the sculptors present at this edition, several prizes were awarded, including that of the BISO prize. The jury, made up of big names in African art such as Barthelemy Toguo, after having reviewed the works according to the theme "dare to invent the future" awarded the 1st BISO prize, Leridon, to Beya Gille Gacha for her creation " Orant # 5 "and the artist Adejoke Tugbiyele for his work" Ange ".
