Mauritania : Amy Sow, a committed artist who promotes artistic creation

Amy Sow is one of those committed artists who work to promote the artistic creations of her compatriots. She made the experience of African women her main theme, convinced that this is how consciences will wake up. Portrait.

Born in 1977 in Nouakchott, Amy Sow is the only Mauritanian artist to be exhibited outside of France. And yet, nothing has been simple, in a country where there is, so far, no school of fine arts. It is through hard work and self-sacrifice, and with no presence of female artists as a model, that Amy Sow has gone through the steps that led her to realize her ambitions in the field of arts.

According to her, art is the right way to draw attention to the social problems that women face too often. But not only. Whether it is acrylic painting or photography, which she practices, she thinks it’s also a real catalyst on the path of a change that has become necessary.

“If we had a school of fine arts, I think it would help reduce crime, maybe even begging. Why not ? Art helps you integrate, “she says. A weighty postulate, which reminds everyone that Mauritania consists of only a hundred artists so far, who are not represented in the media enough and especially completely absent on the international scene.

Amy Sow is a real promoter of artistic creation in Mauritania. She’s the Vice-President of M-Art, a collective of young Mauritanian visual artists who organize the annual Libre’Art festival. She is also the initiator of the Art Galle artistic meeting space.

Many cultural institutions have welcomed Amy Sow’s exhibitions since 2005 : the French Institute, the Cultural Center and the National Museum of Nouakchott. On the African scale, she also participated in the biennales of Dakar, Tunis or Agadir. Each time, it is the voice of African women she has worn, telling their intolerable experience through her art.

Yassine Benslimane

Africa Women Experts