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 Culture
& Traditions Arts
& Crafts Artists |
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Biography:
 Njogu
Touray is a well known Gambian artist who was born in 1960 and
began his early artistic career by tinkering with art using different
natural media found in his environment such as beach sand and
cowry shells.
In his early youth Njogu began by creating Fanal
lantern lights and various indigenous masks
used in cultural festivities. He later produced household decorations
for families in his neighbourhood and soon the word spread about
his talent and he became a household name.
Style and Works:
Njogu creates his own rich vibrant colours using natural resins
and pigments extracted from various indigenous tree bark and plants
which he uses on his paintings. This obsession with natural materials
started in his childhood and is indicative of his environmental
concerns about local detrimental damage including the felling
of trees. His technique of using alternative media is similar
to another local painter named Etu.
He is captivated by the magnificent ruins of the ancient Old City
of Timbuktu such as his work 'Trace of Old', which portrays the
ancient city of in often rich, stark natural tones of the African
scenery. Another of his works includes 'Seeing Beyond' which
shows the revered and often sacred baobab tree. Some of his paintings
as well as Etu's adorn the villas at the AU village in Brufut
Heights near Ghana Town. He has opened his own art gallery called
Sakura Art Studio - 'Tahalart' - which means in Wolof 'to be stained'
with or 'do art'. It is located in the Latrikunda area of Serrekunda
just off Kairaba Avenue.
Art Exhibitions and Tours:
He has travelled internationally and since the late 1980s his
works have been exhibited in art galleries in the US, Europe and
nearer to home in Senegal. For example in 1989 he held an exhibition
of his works at the Africa Centre in the UK and in 2002 he held
an exhibition in Oregon titled 'Colors of Africa'.
Local Participation:
As well as being an environmental campaigner he is eager to encourage
children to enter into the arts and encourages them to try out
different techniques and mixed media.
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