Video: Artist Interview
Viyé Diba on Urban Density in Dakar

Viyé Diba discusses the transformation of space in Dakar and how his piece Nous Sommes Nombreux et Nos Problèmes Avec represents the "new definition" of the streets based on the consumer economy.

Diba believes that the objects we interact with and consume are a powerful tool for understanding society: "Everything that touches us in daily life interests me. When I walk in the street, I perceive everything as memory, which is to say that the profusion of objects found everywhere, all the paper, all the wood, all are remnants of human activity. These materials develop a sociological discourse.”

Born in 1954 in Karentaba, Senegal, Viyé Diba currently lives and works in Dakar, Senegal. Diba studied art education at the National School of Fine Arts in Dakar and received a PhD in urban geography from the University of Nice, France. Diba is currently a Professor of Visual Arts at the National School of Arts of Dakar and serves as the president of the National Senegalese Association of Visual Artists. He is also a member of the Economic and Social Council of the Republic of Senegal and the Scientific Commission at the Biennale de Dakar. Often incorporating local raw and recycled materials, Diba’s works incorporate elements of painting, sculpture, installation, and performance. His work was featured in the solo exhibition Environnement temoin culturel at the National Gallery, Dakar (1990). Diba’s work has been included in numerous international exhibitions, including the 2010 and 1998 Dak’Art Biennial; 1995 and 1997 Johannesburgh Biennale; and 1993 Biennale d’Abidjan, among others.