Prof. Ibrahima Diagne, Head of the Institute of Foreign Languages, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, and Dieter Nuhr. © Association for Art in Public

Düsseldorf, 6 December 2022: Dieter Nuhr's paintings continue their journey around the world and this time make a stop in Senegal. The IFAN National Museum, Musée Thédore Monod d'Art africain, gave the German TV star and artist a grand reception. German Ambassador Sönke Siemon opened the exhibition "Von Fernen umgeben / Entouré de Lointains" in front of around 200 guests. The picture show, sponsored by the Brost Foundation, now features more than 40 unique works by the German artist - mainly large-format landscapes and portraits.

Initially, the exhibition, conceived internationally by his Düsseldorf gallery owner Dirk Geuer, was on show at the Osthaus Museum Hagen in the spring of this year. The museum's special architecture was particularly suitable for the large-format pictures (Alethea reported). Afterwards, the exhibition travelled parallel to the Biennale to Venice, there to the historic Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana directly on St Mark's Square. Now in Senegal, Dieter Nuhr also had the opportunity to take more photographs. We can already look forward to seeing which paintings will emerge from them in his Düsseldorf studio.

In the museum 

Dr. El Hadji Malick Ndiaye, curator of the exhibition and of the "Institut fondamental d'Afrique Noire" (IFAN) as well as artistic director of the Dakar Biennale 2022, emphasised in his opening speech: "Dieter Nuhr's art is deeply marked by travel, encounter and discovery. For the artist is a surveyor of the world, a nomad in perpetual transit. His photographic work is a reflection of this mobility."

Nuhr himself explained in an interview: "My pictures essentially come from distant worlds. It's nice that they travel to faraway places themselves in my exhibitions. They are combined with pictures from my home, the Rhine-Ruhr area. In this way, near and far are mixed. An exhibition of my paintings shows the world in the blur of memory. My pictures take stock of a reality that is fading in our minds, they capture what cannot be stopped. They counter the utilitarian terror of the world (and more recently in art ...) with the subjectivity of the individual worldview." He adds: "I will collect new images again here in Senegal, which then, after processing, will themselves go on a journey again. This is how the circle closes and opens again ..."

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The artist

Dieter Nuhr, born in 1960 in Wesel, Germany, lives and works in Düsseldorf (Germany) and Spain. For many years he has been one of Germany's most successful satirists, but he is also a trained artist. From 1981 to 1987 he studied art (painting) at the University of Essen, the former Folkwang School.

About the venue

Founded in 1936 and located in the heart of the Senegalese capital Dakar, the Musée Théodore Monod d'Art Africain (Museum of African Art) is one of the oldest art museums in West Africa. It was named after the French naturalist and African explorer Thédore André Monod, the former director of IFAN (Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire), to which the museum is affiliated. Important, internationally working artists such as Heinz Mack have already exhibited in the museum. Incidentally, the Mack exhibition was also supported by the Association for Art in Public, Dirk Geuer.

As a research centre for African culture, the museum houses one of the largest collections of Francophone Africa in the world, with almost 10,000 works of art from 20 African countries. The museum is the organiser of the Biennial of Contemporary African Art (Dak'Art Festival).

Entouré de Lointains

26.11.2022 - 17.12.2022

Musée Théodore-Monod d'art africain Dakar / Senegal

Place Soweto

00206 Dakar

Senegal

Dirk Geuer, Association for Art in Public, Dr. El Hadji Malick Ndiaye, Kurator Musée Théodore-Monod d'art africain Photography: Mr Loum © Association for Art in Public

©Michael Clemens

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