Khalifa Mané

Khalifa Mané was born in 1998 in Casamance, southern Senegal. He began his artistic journey in the studio of French painter Le Guenne, where he spent several years learning the basics of painting. Khalifa Mané is a non-conformist artist. Like many young people of his generation in Africa, he has lost faith in those who lead and shape the continent. The leaders symbolize a certain academicism and a rigid system. So it’s not surprising that Khalifa left the Fine Arts School in Dakar after just one year. This early training, combined with his desire to break away from the norm, has shaped him into a unique and outspoken artist. Newspaper collages, integrated into the texture of his works, evokes the omnipresence of media narratives around us. Fragments of text and image become visual testimonies to a troubled socio-political context, a way for the artist to make palpable the systemic violence he denounces. This artistic choice sends a clear message. Leaders’ inaction in the face of youthful aspirations is perceived as a refusal to act. It reflects a denial in the face of urgent demands for social justice. Art and culture carry political stakes. They are arenas of subversion, ways of challenging the established order. Here, Khalifa Mané shows this subversion. He does not conform to the established order. He becomes something of a nonconformist. He should be understood as a free man, defining his own path, his destiny, as the author of his own story, working on themes he feels most compelled to tackle. That’s why his work touches on current issues of emancipation, revolution, and subversion. He brings a fresh perspective to society. He does this through a powerful visual language. It’s an expressive artistic writing filled with meaning and symbolic elements.