In the hushed halls of the 17th-century Palazzo Donà dalle Rose, where the light filters through ancient windows onto Venetian floors, Mama Anne has quietly inserted an Afro-diasporic voice into one of the most prestigious stages in contemporary art. As the curator and driving force behind The Fissures of Light – Diaspora: Dissonances in F Minor, selected as an official Collateral Event of the 61st Venice Biennale, the Franco-Senegalese curator, filmmaker and founder of Tissali Arts & Cultures has transformed a historic palace into a contemplative space of memory, fracture and repair. In a conversation with DakArtNews, Mama Anne reflects on the significance of this milestone and the evolving place of African and diasporic artists on the global stage.
Your exhibition The Fissures of Light – Diaspora Dissonance in F Minor is part of the official Collateral Events of the 2026 Venice Biennale. What does this institutional recognition represent for you and for Tissali Arts & Cultures?
It is an immense pride, both personal and collective. This recognition represents, above all, the materialization of a vision I have carried for several years: the idea of art as a space capable of creating connections and fostering dialogue between territories, memories and imaginaries.
Tissali Arts & Cultures is a young organization that I founded with the desire to promote artistic practices, narratives and cultural circulations between Africa, Europe and the diasporas. Seeing its very first project directly selected for the Venice Biennale is both an honor and a great responsibility. Through Tissali Production, I also develop documentary, artistic and editorial projects, including films, catalogues and books connected to curatorial initiatives. This selection therefore also recognizes a transversal practice that connects contemporary creation, storytelling, memory and transmission.
Beyond the institutional recognition, I see it as a strong signal for independent Afro-diasporic initiatives and for new ways of thinking about cultural circulation within contemporary art.
Why did you choose the fissure — not as a wound, but as a source of light — as the central concept of the exhibition?
The concept of the exhibition emerged from my encounter with the universe of Swiss artist Yasna Kohlbrenner, her personal journey and the symbolic strength of her work. When Yasna invited me to become her artistic director, I immediately felt a deep resonance between her artistic language and the themes that run through my own curatorial practice.
The fissure appeared to me as an essential metaphor for our time. We all carry fractures — identity-related, migratory, intimate, historical or memorial. Yet these fissures should not only be perceived as wounds. They can also become spaces of passage, transformation and light. The exhibition therefore proposes a shift in perspective: to consider vulnerability not as weakness, but as a possible place of creation, repair and revelation.
You pay a strong tribute to Koyo Kouoh in this project. What influence has she had on your journey and on the African and diasporic art scene in your opinion?
Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to know Koyo Kouoh personally during her lifetime. Yet after her passing, I felt a very profound connection with her work and vision. It was during a tribute ceremony held in her honor that I had the deep intuition that I also needed to pay tribute to her through this project. In that moment, I realized that we shared a similar understanding of art as a space of thought, transmission and social transformation.
Her work played a crucial role in repositioning African and diasporic artists at the center of contemporary artistic and critical discourse, through an approach that was rigorous, free and deeply connected to the human and political realities of our time. As for me, I develop a curatorial and documentary practice that considers art as a tool for social transformation and meaning-making. My work seeks to make visible narratives that are often marginalized or invisible, whether related to individual trajectories, questions of identity or collective memory.
You placed the universe of Swiss artist Yasna Kohlbrenner at the center of the project while creating dialogues with artists such as Serge Mouangue and Atelier Seiran. How did you envision these intersections between Africa, Europe, Japan and the diasporas?
Tissali Arts & Cultures naturally positions itself within reflections on the circulation of imaginaries, memories and narratives between Africa, Europe and the diasporas. Our curatorial approach is intentionally open and interdisciplinary, seeking to create dialogues between territories, practices, sensibilities and cultural heritages.
This collaboration emerged through an exchange with Chiara Donà dalle Rose, who proposed this artistic dialogue to me. I immediately accepted because it deeply resonated with the philosophy of the project. The work of Serge Mouangue, particularly around cultural hybridization, together with Atelier Seiran’s practice in Japan, extends this reflection on identities in movement, transmission and resonances between worlds.
I do not think of cultures as fixed blocks, but rather as living spaces of circulation, influence and constant reinvention.
I leave space for intuition in my curatorial practice.
The name “Tissali” means “to weave” in Pulaar. How does this philosophy guide your curatorial approach, especially in a project connecting Africa, Europe and the diasporas?
The philosophy of connection is deeply rooted within me. It is part of my personal values as much as my curatorial vision. This is precisely why I chose the name “Tissali” for this structure dedicated to arts, memory and narratives. For me, “to weave” means to connect — to connect worlds, generations, cultures and visible or invisible memories. My curatorial approach consists precisely in creating these sensitive bridges between different human experiences and cultural geographies.
In a fragmented world, I deeply believe in the necessity of recreating connection, listening and spaces of transmission. Art can become that space where narratives meet and memories enter into dialogue.
How personal is your curatorial approach? What distinguishes, in your opinion, your way of “weaving” narratives from that of other Afro-diasporic curators today?
My curatorial practice is deeply personal because it is closely connected to my own journey across different territories, cultures and social realities. I come from a background in social work and public policy, and I progressively developed curatorial and documentary practices around questions of memory, transmission and storytelling.
My perspective is also shaped by my experience of double culture, by human-centered fieldwork, by questions of governance and social connection, but also by a form of spirituality and intuition that plays an important role in the way I think about projects. What matters to me is not only exhibiting artworks, but creating spaces of connection, dialogue and resonance between narratives, memories and human experiences.
I am not simply trying to place artists side by side, but to create genuine human and sensitive connections between stories, territories and artworks. I also leave an important place for intuition in the way I build projects and curatorial dialogues.
In a world marked by identity, migratory and memorial fractures, what role can contemporary art play in processes of repair and transmission?
Contemporary art can play an essential role because it sometimes expresses what words alone cannot fully articulate. It makes complex, intimate and silent human experiences visible and shareable. Art can transmit through emotion, sensation, embodied memory and symbolism.
It can also create spaces for dialogue, repair and reconnection between people and histories. I deeply believe that art has an important social and human function. It can help recreate connections within fragmented societies and open spaces for contemplation, listening and transformation.
As a Senegalese curator present in Venice, how do you view the place of African and Afro-diasporic artists today in major international events such as the Venice Biennale? Do they finally have real visibility, or does it remain symbolic?
I view this evolution with great hope and satisfaction. The growing presence of African and Afro-diasporic artists in major international events represents a very real and important shift. Seeing several African pavilions present in Venice today, as well as African artists included within Western pavilions and collateral events, reflects a significant transformation of the contemporary art landscape.
Of course, structural imbalances still remain in terms of funding, representation and access to international networks. But I do believe we are witnessing a lasting movement that contributes to redefining the centers of narration within contemporary art.
We need narrative sovereignty.
Many people speak about an increased “African presence” in biennials in recent years. Do you believe this reflects a genuine shift in power dynamics within the contemporary art world, or is it more of a temporary trend?
I believe we must remain lucid while also recognizing the real progress that has been made. Today, African and diasporic artistic scenes have far greater visibility than they did only a few years ago, and this reflects a profound evolution in perspectives and narratives within the art world.
However, it is essential that this presence is not reduced to a temporary trend. The fundamental questions remain: who tells the stories? Who decides? Who funds? Who archives?
For me, the true shift in power dynamics will happen when African artists, curators and institutions are able to produce and sustain their own narratives autonomously, with durable resources and structural recognition.
Concretely, what would be needed for this to become a sustainable reality?
I believe that, first of all, we need to build sustainable structures: spaces for creation, residency, research, dissemination and transmission that allow African artists and curators to develop their projects over time. Funding is obviously important, but there is also the question of narrative sovereignty: being able to tell our own stories through our own references, sensibilities and realities, without relying solely on external perspectives.
I also strongly believe in transmission, in collaborations between Africa and the diasporas, and in the creation of networks capable of supporting future generations. Today, it is essential for African artists, curators and institutions to be able to produce their own narratives in a free, sustainable and autonomous way, while remaining open to international dialogue.
From public service and development policies to founding Tissali Arts & Cultures and participating in Venice: what common thread connects these different chapters of your journey, and how do you define your role today as an Afro-diasporic curator?
The common thread throughout my journey is undoubtedly service to others and the search for meaning. Whether in public administration, development policies or now within the artistic and cultural field, I have always been driven by the desire to contribute to collective well-being, transmission and social impact.
My experience in public policy deeply influenced the way I think about curation: not only as an aesthetic practice, but also as a relational, social and human space. Through Tissali Arts & Cultures and Tissali Production, I develop projects at the intersection of contemporary art, documentary filmmaking, curatorial research and publishing. I oversee project development, coordination, artistic and curatorial direction, as well as editorial extensions that allow works, narratives and ideas to circulate beyond exhibition spaces.
Today, I would define my role as an Afro-diasporic curator as that of a mediator of narratives and connections, attentive to fragmented memories, cultural circulations and dialogues between worlds.
What is the vision for Tissali Arts & Cultures after the Venice Biennale?
This Biennale represents an important milestone, but certainly not an end point. The vision of Tissali Arts & Cultures is to continue developing artistic, curatorial, documentary and editorial projects between Africa, Europe and the diasporas.
We particularly wish to develop artistic and spiritual residencies in Senegal, create spaces for research and transmission, support emerging artists and continue international collaborations around memory, identity and cultural circulation. Through Tissali Production, the goal is also to continue developing documentary films, catalogues, books and editorial projects connected to artistic and curatorial practices.
We also aim to strengthen our presence within major international artistic events, particularly through future projects linked to the Dakar Biennale, while maintaining a deeply human, transversal and engaged approach.
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