bluedango Bulletin

Our talented new artist from Burkina Faso, Kante created our very popular sculpture, Timidity.  In talking about his work, Kante explains ‘the wood always talks to me and dictates what I should carve from it,’ and obviously he is a wonderful listener.

Kante was born in 1977 in Bobo Dioulasso, in Burkina Faso, which is a small landlocked country located in West Africa.  Like most African sculptors, he comes from a long line of wood carvers.

At a very young age, Kante developed a passion for sculpting.  He decided to abandon school at the age of 11, against his father’s opposition in order to learn the skill that has been handed down through his family, generation after generation.  His father finally allowed him to work in his carving shop, giving him the task of sharpening all the carving tools every morning.

It only took him five years to master the art of sculpting and thus becoming the pride of his father and family. When he turned 17 he was able to create his own designs and receive the totality of the proceeds his sales. Unfortunately that same year he lost his father and had to move to Ouagadougou (capital city of Burkina Faso) to work in his uncle’s workshop.

In 2000, he decided to return to his hometown, then to Bamako (Mali) and Dakar (Senegal) and worked in other carvers’ workshop to make a living and improve his skills.   In 2004, he decided to go back and live in Ouagadougou, the capital city of his country. Since then, he has been promoting and developing his art by participating to many commercial fairs all around West Africa.

We are honored and proud to have Timidity as part of our collection, and we do look forward to adding more of Kante’s wooden sculptures in the near future.