Bodil Ouédraogo’s work is part of the permanent collections of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the Mondriaan Fonds Art Collection, and UMC. She is the winner of the Amsterdam Prijs voor de Kunst 2022 and is part of 2023 ‘50 under 30’ by Het Financieel Dagblad. She lives and works in Amsterdam.

I try to find ways to nurture and honour every part of (my) identity, the Self. Finding ways to portray an imagination in which all these parts can coexist. Each research leads to a chapter. These chapters together give me a broader, more grounded vision of how to be rooted in my being.

When I was in Burkina-Faso for research and family visits, people everywhere kept reminding me that a person is not alone but overly connected. All the pieces of a person’s history are akin and make them who they are. Not one or the other, but identity, the Self, is one big connected web in which all these threads combined are what makes it whole. Portraying all parts of one’s identity or shining light on forgotten or neglected parts leads to radical imagination. My work is informed by the connections I find within the art of dressing up. By examining different cultural aspects within Black culture that, at first glance, seem far apart. How can a connection between differing styles enrich and uplift one another?

My work largely stems from research within the European Afro-diaspora, but I also go to West Africa, Burkina Faso, Mali, Ghana and Nigeria for family visits and ongoing research into the art of dressing up. It sharpens my vision by questioning certain ways of being and presenting in the world.

I work with different media. I find a fitting media for each work. I weave dance, fabrics, cinema, photography, and sculptures into ‘stuff’ that is auxiliary to ‘the art of dressing up’. I am drawn to the idea of making an installation come to life. Creating a work that can be looked at and experienced. By making an installation come to life, it becomes part of a new shared reality and, therefore, a shared experience.

text by Bodil Ouédraogo