Senegal

The Doors of Senegal: Les Portes Du Sénégal

Book by Cleve Overton & Jude Andreasen

^{A beautiful, new hardcover book with hundreds of full-color photographs of the handmade doors of Senegal has just been published. Senegal has historical significance as a principal embarkation point for slaves taken to the New World from Africa. The book illustrates the ingenuity and creativity of Senegalese artists and craftspeople in producing and reconditioning its handmade doors, particularly in Dakar, St. Louis, Thiès and Gorée Island.}

^{The photographs were taken by the authors between 1991 and 1993, when they lived and worked there, and were exhibited at the National Theater in Dakar (1993) and at several venues on Staten Island, NY (2000) with a grant from the Council on the Arts and Humanities for Staten Island.
St. Louis, the oldest French city in Africa, has three centuries of history, cultural background, and architecture, and retains its colonial flavor. Its distinctive bridge, built in 1897 by the company that designed the Eiffel Tower, still connects its islands to the mainland.
Thiès, the second largest city in Senegal, is best known for its tapestry industry and handicrafts village. In 1957, its railroad workers went on strike for several months to obtain the same rights as the French railway men. The successful strike was celebrated in Ousmane Sembene's novel, Les Bouts de Bois de Dieu (God's Pieces of Wood) as a turning point in the anti-colonial struggle.}

^{Gorée Island, known for its significant role in the slave trade, is a small island of 1,500 residents. Its major tourist attraction, the Slave House and museum, draws visitors from all over the world, including President Clinton in 1998. Its strategically important position at the intersection of major shipping routes made it a hotly contested territory during the colonial period.
Dakar, the modern capital of Senegal since independence from France in 1960, has a population of about one million and one of the best harbors in West Africa. Dakar has a relatively mild climate and boasts many attractions, including one of the oldest African art museums (IFAN Museum of African Culture), the Grand Mosque (built in 1964), and some large and interesting markets.
The authors' first photographic book, Creative Recycling: Handmade in Africa, published in 2005 and available from Xlibris (xlibris.com) and Amazon, illustrated their collection of miniature vehicles made in many African countries from cans, wooden scraps and recycled materials.}