Ken Aicha Sy. Survival Kit – Monochrome of Negritude or the Introduction to the Modernists

Between a family archive and the collective dimension of a shared heritage: The history of contemporary Senegalese painting from 1960 to 1990 continues at the ifa Gallery in Stuttgart under the title "Monochrome of Négritude or the Introduction to the Modernists", focusing on the pioneers of Senegalese modernism.

"Grief often forces us to return to the traces left behind by those we have lost. In my case, it meant delving into the archives of my mother, Anne Jeanbart, a Franco-Caribbean journalist who chronicled Senegal’s cultural scene for decades. In the vibrant Dakar of the 1980s, she wrote about the artists, thinkers, and movements that defined an era when the city shone with extraordinary creative energy. Her writings became my first archive — intimate, fragile, yet revelatory. They opened a chapter of Senegal’s contemporary history while prompting deeper questions about memory, identity, and inheritance.
This archive became the foundation for a curatorial practice where mourning, the search for a father, and the desire to understand my country’s history converge. Out of this exploration emerged "Survival Kit" — an evolving project that operates as both tool and archive, designed to serve the next generation. It affirms a heritage that is both ours and universal: the artistic legacy of Senegal.
After Saint-Louis, Dakar, and Berlin, I now bring this chapter to Stuttgart. Here, the project revisits the framework envisioned by poet-president Léopold Sédar Senghor, who saw art as a force of emancipation and national identity. It brings into focus the pioneers of Senegalese modernism — Amadou Ba, Seni Awa Camara, Mor Faye, Boubacar Sadikh Traoré, Younousse Sèye, Iba N’Diaye, among others. Once central to the École de Dakar, their works marked a decisive turning point in the visual history of Senegal and West Africa.
This exhibition is a passage: a reactivation of a narrative too often erased, a story of artists who forged their own vocabularies of freedom — sometimes in dialogue with Négritude, sometimes in rupture. It is not a fixed homage, but a living space of voices, fragments, and echoes — rooted in the personal, carried by a collective will to transmit and transform. As philosopher Souleymane Bachir Diagne reminds us: memory does not merely preserve the past — it reinvents it to illuminate the future." (Ken Aicha Sy)

As a living and evolving methodology, "Survival Kit" is not only an exhibition but also a curatorial tool that promotes collaboration and transdisciplinary exchange. The accompanying public program brings together local and international artists, historians, and data curators who have been engaged with issues of restitution, modernity, and archival practice in recent years. (See supporting program)  

Ken Aïcha Sy is a curator, researcher, and founder of the "Wakh'Art" platform. In her work, she explores memory, visual heritage, and cultural transmission from a decolonial perspective. "Survival Kit" is part of ongoing curatorial research on post-independence artistic practices and their legacy across generations.

About the limited edition cassette mixtape "Survival Kit: A Musicscape of West-Africa (1970s–1980s)" made by Cornelia Lund and Holger Lund (fluctuating images) as part of the exhibtion "Survival Kit: Monochrome of Negritude or the Introduction to the Modernists" by Ken Aïcha Sy:

When Ken Aïcha Sy invited us to participate in her exhibition, “Survival Kit”, we immediately thought of creating a mixtape to accompany the Senegalese paintings from the post-independence decades – and provide a soundtrack to the exhibition.
We were intrigued by the emergence of a new sound in the 1960s, connected to Senegal’s independence. Its softness and slow rhythms were a far cry from the lively, fast-paced sound Senegalese music is generally known for. This new sound was not as percussion-dominated as mbalax would become later on; it was Latin-infused and mixed with reggae and pop. It also contains elements of traditional African music, resulting in an electrified, pop-infused African modernity with spiritual depth. This music was also transnational, connected to other musical developments in neighboring coastal countries. In our mixtape, we trace the music from Senegal to Angola, creating a special musicscape of West Africa from the 1970s to the 1980s.
This special musicscape will be presented and discussed at the mixtape release event.
For the digital release of the tape please go to: https://www.fluctuating-images.de/mixtape-musicscape/

More information: https://www.ifa.de/en/exhibition/survival-kit/
https://www.ifa.de/kunst/ifa-galerie-stuttgart/

Review by Dietrich Heißenbüttel, "Verstreutes Erbe Die Senegalesin Ken Aïcha Sy forscht nach der modernen Kunst ihres Landes", https://on-art.news/2025/11/19/verstreutes-erbe/

Recorded DJ-set:  
Pre-Opening: https://www.fluctuating-images.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pt.-1-Ken-Aicha-Sy-Survival-Kit-Opening-31.10.25-Martin-Georgi-Holger-Lund_01.mp3
Post-Opening Pt.1: https://www.fluctuating-images.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pt.-2-Ken-Aicha-Sy-Survival-Kit-Opening-31.10.25-Martin-Georgi-Holger-Lund_01.mp3
Post-Opening Pt.2: https://www.fluctuating-images.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Pt.-3-Ken-Aicha-Sy-Survival-Kit-Opening-31.10.25-Martin-Georgi-Holger-Lund_01.mp3