Galerie Atiss Dakar Gallery in Dakar

Editorial Profile

Founded in 1996 by Aïssa Dione during the inaugural edition of the Dak'Art Biennale, Galerie Atiss Dakar emerged at a defining moment for contemporary art in Dakar and has remained structurally tied to the city's biennial cycle ever since — participating in every subsequent Dak'Art edition and functioning as a consistent anchor within Partcours, the seasonal off-circuit that links Dakar's dispersed exhibition venues into a shared public itinerary. Housed in a 1960s building with high ceilings near the Corniche Ouest, the gallery operates as a commercial space with an explicitly pan-African and diasporic program, centering artists from Senegal and across the continent with curatorial attention to painting, photography, textile-based work, and conceptually oriented installation. What distinguishes it from more narrowly focused galleries in the city is the deliberate integration of its exhibition program with a broader material and artisanal ecosystem: the Maison Aïssa Dione and the Ateliers Aïssa Dione in Sodida extend the gallery's reach into residency and production contexts directly connected to the textile traditions historically associated with the founder.

Recent programming reflects a consistent interest in cross-regional dialogue rather than a strictly national or West African frame — encompassing solo projects, group thematic exhibitions, and a residency program that has hosted artists from Japan, South Africa, Nigeria, the DRC, and Ghana, among others. Internationally, the gallery has traveled to Frieze London with a solo presentation of Serigne Mbaye Camara, and has participated in several editions of 1-54 in Marrakech and New York, Investec Cape Town, Art X Lagos, and Art Dubai. Within the landscape of galleries in Dakar, Galerie Atiss remains one of the longest-running spaces dedicated to contemporary practice, operating in sustained dialogue with the cultural institutions in Dakar that have consolidated around the Biennale and shaped the city's position within the African and international art circuit.