Centre Soleil d'Afrique
Centre Soleil d'Afrique is an artist association dedicated to artistic and cultural exchanges and aims to promote the visual arts in Mali. By emphasizing the accomplishments of young Malian artists within Malian boarders and abroad, the centre wants to better their living conditions while allowing them to concentrate on the quality of their art.
With the financial support of the Prince Claus Foundation and the assistance and advice of the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, Soleil d'Afrique opened its doors in the district ACI 2000, Hamdallaye in Bamako, Mali in 1999. Since 2000, Soleil d’Afrique is partner in RAIN network (RAIN Artists’ Initiatives Network).
The centre is unique in the cultural scene of Bamako and Mali. It not only offers a stimulating environment for artistic conception and creation. Intercultural exchange is also a priority. Interaction with individuals and institutions beyond Mali is continuously sought out. This opening on to the world can bring new sources of inspiration as well as new sources of revenue for artists of all generations.
Such are the objectives of the Centre.
The Bamako Pavilion is compiled by Hama Goro and Harald Schole.
Hama Goro is director of Soleil d'Afrique.
Harald Schole is organisator and photographer of the project Station Gare Mali.
Last year they worked together on the project Station Gare Mali.
Harald Schole about Station Gare Mali:
"The inhabitants of district ACI 2000 in Bamako were surprised when they saw 18 long banners hanging down the façade of a two storey building still under construction. They bore texts in French, Bambara and Dutch in a lively confusion of symbols and colours. The artists had depicted in their very own way the Mali proverb Ce que la barbe dit le jour, le pagne l’ a décidé la nuit, and therewith the social and cultural relationship between men and women, the unending universal discussion, also in Mali. The passing comments were multitude. ’But of course, women have the final word’, ’No issue is that we live in harmony’, ’We women indeed end up having to do everything’.
The banners made by artists from Mali, Benin, Togo and the Netherlands were the result of a cultural exchange programme entitled Station Gare Mali, which took place in the Centre Soleil d’Afrique in Bamako, Mali. Station Gare Mali was an international art project with a focus on cooperation between artists from different countries and with diverse cultural backgrounds. " (taken from: Station Gare Mali, an example of a changing art practice by Harald Schole)
