Today’s Village des Arts was made available to the artist community in 1998 at the request of the artists. The Village des Arts comes under the authority of the Ministry of Culture and encompasses an area of four hectares, providing a gallery, a cafeteria, a bronze foundry (installed by a sculptor), open spaces, as well as the studios of the Village’s resident and visiting artists.
The Village offers space for creativity, for the production and diffusion of art, for research, events, promotion and exchange. In keeping with its aim of promoting artists and their work, it is open to all artists from Senegal and friendly states. The Village des Arts is Senegal’s cultural showcase, a pleasant space and an island of tranquility. It is frequented by all sorts of people: gallery owners, museum curators, architects, cultural operators, diplomats, students searching for inspiration for their final papers, journalists, politicians, and other individuals. Taken as a whole, the 45 studios represent all disciplines of fine art: painting, sculpting, ceramics, photography, video, installation, etc.
The resident artists of the Village are involved in numerous workshops, residencies, and international encounters throughout the year. The busy coming and going makes for the special charisma of the village.
The Village des Arts is jointly administered by the Senegalese Ministry of Culture and a committee of resident artists of the Village. Apart from the promotion of arts and culture, this synergy also aims at encouraging a sense of community and mutual support among the group of artists while they create a coherent cultural and artistic programme. The aim is to unite the big family of artists in a context of reflection and focusing on the issue of art.
