Bamako
Born in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, Ange Dakouo is a textile artist who studied, lives and works in Bamako, the capital of Mali. He uses heritage weaving and dyeing methods to create striking abstract wall-based work that draw on the aesthetic traditions of his home country; the costumes of Malian hunters are a frequent point of reference. Dakouo’s practice is rooted in sustainability and a connection to the environment: he uses materials such as cotton fabric, shells and recycled objects to make statements about tradition, memory and cultural resilience, challenging viewers to consider the value and significance of traditional craft in a modern context. He was a finalist for the 2024 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize with his work Harmony of Grisgris (2023). Dakouo’s work is in the collection of Fondation H in Antananarivo, the Société Ivoirienne de Banque in Côte d’Ivoire and the Fondation Blachère in Bonnieux.