François Burland – Zigzag à Ziguinchor

For several years, the Swiss artist François Burland has been observing and documenting these urban paintings. Walking through the streets of Ziguinchor and Lower Casamance, he meets local painters, photographs their works, and collects some of these signs, recognizing their expressive power and cultural value.

With this exhibition, Galleria Doppia V presents an exceptional ensemble of more than seventy painted signs, testimonies of a popular visual tradition rarely visible in our latitudes. Born from the encounter between models of colonial advertising, local decorative traditions, and the personal inventions of the artists, these images form a spontaneous visual language in which commercial symbols and religious figures coexist on the same walls.

In a context where printed images and industrial advertising are gradually replacing hand-painted signage, these works bear witness to a popular visual practice that is still alive, yet fragile and constantly evolving.

The exhibition is accompanied by the volume Zigzag à Ziguinchor, which brings together the photographs taken by François Burland during the course of his research (Pagine d’Arte & Salvioni Edizioni).

Notes

• Openin Friday, March 27, 6:30 p.m., presentation by Francesco Biamonte