FALL, Mar (1944 - )

The symbolism in Mar FALL’s tapestry is always inspired from African spiritual traditions. Special circumstances have led Africans to occasionally reach a consensus on certain spiritual issues in order to identify with their traditional cults. According to the Senegalese linguist and political scientist Pathé Diagne, the deities from the North-West Atlantic, area of the Lebu fishermen, are always feminine. They are served by women who sacrifice a black bull during a ceremony which usually takes place when the star announcing winter waters (the rainy season) appears. In the delta of the Senegal river, the dominant traditional figure of worship was the famous Penda Saar, from the Ngawle village. Sailors out at sea still invoke her today, whatever their difficulties, as she knows everything and is capable of anything on water.

Mar Fall belongs to the group of contemporary Senegalese artists who carried out their oil paintings on cardboard (Aubusson technique) in order to then have their works woven in the Tapestry Manufacture, or "Manufacture of Decorative Arts in Thies". The Manufacture of Thies became a Regional Cultural Centre where one may also admire ceramics, hand painted textiles and watercolors.