| 2017 | Selly Raby Kane |
| EN |
Visit the project
|
The Other Dakar is a manifesto in a sense, it is for me a way to reconnect the urban space with its mythology and to use design and creativity as a platform for the invisible Dakar to express her uniqueness. In a time where materialism occupies the mainstream, there is a need to re-invest imaginary spaces and use them as a fertile soil for the necessary adjustments we need to implement as a country facing several cultural and political changes.
Selly Raby Kane, Author.
The everyday urban Dakar becomes a stage of experimentation for Senegalese fashion designer Selly Raby Kane. In this dreamlike 360º video we follow the journey of Maguette Diop, a little girl who gets a message that will guide her to a series of encounters with mythological beings in “The Other Dakar”.
The production design plays a central role in this narration. From the expressive costumes that intertwine traditional forms and fabrics with contemporary ones to three-dimensional digital shapes such as clouds and lobsters floating inside a bar room and a purple waterfall on a garden, the common spaces are altered to create an enchanted universe that the viewer can freely dive into in the 360 video. By revealing the secret wonders of the city, this piece vindicates art as a way of knowing the depths of a place in its liminality; it defies not only the frontiers of the seen and the unseen, the material and the imagination but also the limits of fiction and documentary.
This project is also about breaking socio-geographical boundaries of VR production. “The Other Dakar” is a part of Electric South, a non-profit organization based in Cape Town, South Africa, dedicated to the development, production, and circulation of VR work from African creators. This endeavor is fundamental in promoting and making visible local perspectives and stories.
0 comments