The cultural centre connecting people and driving change in rural Senegal
Thread Over the last three years the remote artist residency and cultural centre Thread has become a valuable addition to Sinthian, a village in southeastern Senegal. A project of the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, and championed by respected community leader Dr Magueye Ba, Thread aims to mix art with everyday life by hosting two to four artists from around the world at any given time, and by launching several initiatives in agriculture, learning and sustainable development. From music to farming, Thread enables change at the grassroots level. The local inhabitants also use the centre every day as a space to meet and socialise, charge their phones, study with solar light in the evenings (there is no electricity in the village), and host cultural gatherings. “Sinthian is the geographic centre of communities on the river space that can be configured to accommodate audiences of up and it can be economically tough there, but Dr Ba has pioneered to 300 people, as well as small intimate gatherings. “The village a lot of different projects,” says Nick Murphy, director of Thread. kids play hide-and-seek in and around the walls,” says Murphy, Having studied medicine in Dakar, Dr Ba has chosen to live in emphasising the flexibility and informality of the space, and the Sinthian for nearly two decades, during which time he has worked degree to which it has become familiar to the local population. with US non-profit American Friends of Le Korsa (AFLK), runSenegalese environmental sustainability expert Moussa ning the local medical centre, building Sinthian’s first preschool Sene acts as Thread’s general manager, and champions the cenand funding its teachers. “Over the years Dr Ba has acted as an tre’s agricultural projects. Under his watch, beekeepers in the incredible entrepreneur, doctor and active fundraiser, so that his area have changed over from using traditional harmful burning community can benefit,” Murphy adds. techniques to reach the honey, to methods that preserve the bees Designed pro bono by the award-winning New York-based and the environment. Sene has also implemented the making of architect Toshiko Mori, Thread’s building is a spectacular combi- biocomposts and biopesticides among local farmers, minimising nation of vernacular techniques and contemporary geometry, built costs as well as nurturing the land. He also helps artists devise entirely by local labourers and craftspeople. The simple white their plans when they arrive for the residency programme, allowing walls are made from compressed earth bricks, while the sweep- them to engage with the community in meaningful ways. “People ing roof is a grass thatch. Bamboo collects and stores rainwater, come from far away to work with the locals, both learning from, used for agricultural projects during the eight-month dry season. and teaching them,” he says. “Mostly the artists adapt their proAnd at the centre of the building is a large, open-air performance jects after a few days of observation, making them more relevant.”
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Words KATIE DE KLEE
NATAAL
