Ange Dakouo

Born in 1990 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, Ange Dakouo (whose full name is Losso Marie-Ange Dakouo) lives and works in Bamako, Mali. He produces tapestries from what he calls “woven gris-gris”, which are cardboard briquettes made of newspaper, skilfully tied together with cotton thread to form textile-like wall sculptures and immersive installations.

This is the central motif of his work, which he reproduces ad infinitum. The manufacture of gris-gris is directly inspired by amulets for infants Dakouo observed during a research project he carried out between 2015 and 2018 among Mali’s Donso hunters, a brotherhood that strives to protect the ancestral memories and spiritual knowledge of their territory. Through the reference to this community of men promoting cohesion between individuals and with their environment, Dakouo holds out the possibility of a place of mutual protection and transmission between his work and the public.

The artist works with folded newspaper in memory of his father, a printer who came home every evening with piles of publications. He creates gradient effects by varying the density of ink on the selected paper, using colour in various ways as a symbolic, disruptive or narrative device.

Dakouo graduated from Bamako’s Conservatory of Arts and Craft in 2017 and held his first solo exhibition, Les Boîtes Rouges, at Taxi Bamako in 2018. He has subsequently held solo exhibitions at Fondation H (Paris), LouiSimone Guirandou Gallery (Abidjan) and Villa Soudan (Bamako).

He has held residencies at Civitella Ranieri in Umbria, Fondation Blachère in Bonnieux and Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, and is one of the founders of the Tim’Arts Collective, with which he exhibits regularly. Dakouo has participated in AKAA Art Fair in Paris (2019), Partcours in Dakar (2020), the Congo Biennale (2022), documenta fifteen in Kassel (2022) presented by the Festival sur le Niger Foundation, and Design Miami (2024) with Southern Guild. His work is in the collections of the Fondation H (Madagascar), Société Ivoirienne de Banque (Côte d'Ivoire), Fondation Blachère (France and Senegal) as well as many private collections.

In 2024, Dakouo received the SEED Award from the Prince Clause Fund and was a finalist of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize. He was included Apollo magazine’s 40 Under 40 in the craft category that same year.