Laboratoire Agit'Art was an art collective founded in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

in 1973 by writer and performer Youssouf John with goal of revitalising artistic production and critique institutional frameworks and the philosophy of Negritude in particular. John soon left for Martinique and the group/workshop was handed on to

Issa Samb Issa Samb, also known as Joe Ouakam (31 December 1945 – 25 April 2017) was a Senegalese painter, sculptor, performance artist, playwright and poet. Early life Issa Samb was born on 31 December 1945 in Dakar, Senegal. He graduated from the Unive ...

. Other key members included (El Sy),

Bouna Medoune Seye Bouna Medoune Seye (also Bouna Médoune Sèye, 19 October 1956 – 27 December 2017) was a Senegalese painter, photographer, costume designer and filmmaker. Born in Dakar, Senegal, he studied in Marseilles, France, and photographed the tramps on ...

Djibril Diop Mambéty Djibril Diop Mambéty (January 23, 1945 – July 23, 1998) was a Senegalese film director, actor, orator, composer and poet. Though he made only five feature films and two short documentary films, they received international acclaim for their ...

, and Youssoupha Dione.{{cite web , url= http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=11®ion=afu#/Key-Events , title= Western and Central Sudan, 1900 A.D.–present: Key Events , work= Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History , publisher=

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, location=New York , accessdate=15 September 2015 The group consisting of artists, writers, film-makers, performance artists and musicians. The group was based at Dakar's squatted

Village des Arts A village is a human settlement or Residential community, community, larger than a hamlet (place), hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located ...

until the squatted village was evicted by the army ion 23 September 1983p. 143, In Senghor′s Shadow: Art, Politics, and the Avant-Garde in Senegal, 1960–1995. Author(s): Elizabeth Harney: Published: 2004 The collective made work in a variety of medium, including paint, found objects, sculpture, performance art and street art. Their exhibitions were organised around satyrical theatrical productions of

Leopold Senghor Leopold may refer to: People * Leopold (given name), including a list of people named Leopold or Léopold * Leopold (surname) Fictional characters * Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons'' * Leopold B ...

and Aime Cesaire's works. The collective marked a move away from Negritude philosophy of Senghor and Cesaire and towards a more avant-garde critique of both modernism and traditional ideas while still drawing from both.

References

History of Dakar Arts organizations established in 1973 Senegalese art African artist groups and collectives Avant-garde art 1973 establishments in Senegal