The first edition of the ellipse Prize goes to Dakar-based artist Ibrahim Ndome. He was chosen from over 60 applications by an independent jury of contemporary art professionals, including specialists in the Senegalese art scene.

Ibrahima Ndome (Dakar) is part of the Atelier Ndokette collective, alongside Safi Niang (Conakry/Paris) and Souleymane Bachir Diaw (Dakar/Paris). They have been working together since 2019 and use photography and fashion design as their main mediums. Ndokette is a Senegalese word; it refers to a tunic which represents Senegalese cultural heritage perduring through time. The collective questions this notion of temporality through artistic experimentation. Photographs, videos and performances attest to these experimentations focused on the present moment spent fully conscious, freed from a recalled past and an idealized future. The collective represents a laboratory of ideas, concepts and solutions.

Ndokette Session, Untitled Technique et support – Photographie, impression sur papier d’archive Hahnemühle Photo

The prize focuses on emerging African artists aged between 18 and 35 years old, based in Senegal, who are not represented by an art gallery and whose artistic practices are dedicated to visual arts. The ellipse Prize, an initiative developed by the Ellipse Art Projects endowment fund, honours each year the artistic creation of an sub-Saharan African or Asian country, while at the same time raising collective awareness of the environment through the messages conveyed by the artists.

The winning artist will benefit from a three-month artistic residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts from October 4 to December 27, 2021 and his work will be exhibited in Paris during the AKAA fair in November 2021.