What Is Art? Insights from Baba Ly in Dakar

As part of the What is Art series, DakartNews met with Baba Ly, born in 1987, and the son of renowned Senegalese painter Amadou Dédé Ly. A committed artist, Baba Ly welcomed us at the Village of Arts in Dakar to share his vision of art, which he views as a unifying force that transcends disciplines. In his artistic approach, he questions his environment, the future of his people, and humanity. His art is oriented toward society, while also being rooted in the past and exploring the future.

1) What does art mean to you?

Art is everything that connects us, everything that nourishes us from within. It’s also everything that makes us different. Our differences are part of art. In art, we accept everything. Art excludes nothing. Art takes everything in, and everything is within art. For me, art is the meaning of life.

If we reduce art to a medium—music, painting, or other—we are limiting art. Art is not confined to one discipline. It speaks of our higher being. So, when we create art, we draw from within ourselves to convey emotions.

2) How would you define beauty in your work?

Beauty depends on the person defining it. So, one person may find something beautiful, while another finds it ugly. In the end, does beauty or ugliness really exist? For me, beauty is a state. It’s about being able to evoke emotions, to touch the essence of what connects us. To me, that’s beautiful. Listening to music that’s beautiful, even if we don’t understand the lyrics—that’s beauty.

3) Is beauty something that you seek or is the message more important?

As an artist, beauty is not what I seek first. What I look for is sensitivity and subtlety. It’s more complex. For example, we can say something is beautiful, but what exactly is beautiful in what we are looking at? If we manage to express that, then we’ve succeeded. In a piece of art, there might be just one part that is magnificent, but not easy to see with the naked eye—yet we can feel it. Sensitivity encompasses many things at once; it’s layers, nuances… It’s not just one thing. To create a piece that touches many people, it has to go through several stages to become what it is. In my approach, I question my environment, the future of my people, of humanity. My art is oriented toward society, not just that, but also toward the past and the future.