Picture by Khalid Elsawi / The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: All throughout the Expo 2023 Doha grounds, beautiful flowers as well as impeccable art decorate every inch of Al Bidda Park.
The artistic expression of the multitude of participating nations is enthusiastically celebrated at the horticultural exhibition.
Picture by Khalid Elsawi / The Peninsula
Many of these artistic expressions, as is the case with the Burkinabe pavilion, illustrate the ancestry of the creative process across generations.
Abdoulaye Kabore, representative of the Burkinabe artists participating in the exhibition, took The Peninsula on a journey through the ancestral arts of the West African nation. The intersection of art and agriculture, according to him, is the main point of focus within the Burkina Faso pavilion.
Picture by Khalid Elsawi / The Peninsula
Kabore is a sculptor who works primarily with bronze, and has had several of his installations proudly displayed in the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou.
He told The Peninsula that, for Burkina Faso, art and socio-economic development go hand-in-hand.
“We give importance to art for socio-economic development,” Kabore said. “Art and culture are factors of development in the country of honest men that is Burkina Faso.”
The pavilion acquaints visitors with the many talents of the Burkinabe art scene, all represented in a booklet available to sift through a travel across the wonderful art scene of Burkina.
Picture by Khalid Elsawi / The Peninsula
Picture by Khalid Elsawi / The Peninsula
Kabore's talent has taken him all around the world and drawn many people to him. He has held workshops in his native country and abroad to teach those who desire the traditional Burkinabe methods of bronze sculpting.
But it is not just sculpting that the people of Burkina Faso are known for; they also excel at textile weaving and Bogolan, a traditional and natural dyeing process.
The many cotton garments displayed within the Burkina Faso pavilion have been dyed using the bogolan method, Kabore told The Peninsula. This method utilizes soil variety to produce various colors of dye.
It is a fully natural process that does not involve any industrial machinery, and has been inherited from one generation to the next, as per Kabore.
Picture by Khalid Elsawi / The Peninsula
The Burkinabe sculptor explained that, beyond the art and the designs, the art and the method by which it is produced carries a strong message against pollution and the fight to preserve the environment.
“Our pavilion demonstrates the transformation of agricultural products, the protection of the environment by the recovery of raw and organic materials for the creation of our works which contribute to the fight against pollution.”
