The African Renaissance? It started sometime this past year. Oh, they're building something on the second hill, no not the lighthouse hill, the other one. Who knows, maybe a meteorological research facility? You know with all of this climate change, that would be a good idea. Or maybe a school of the arts - the light up there is probably fantastic. Who knows....

This was what was going through my head when I first noticed the construction site on the hill near Ouakam. How were we to know the extent of the project? What started as a small curiosity, something that maybe evoked some questioning in the periphery of one's mind, has now turned into a 500 meter monstrosity that cannot go unnoticed.

President Wade is building a statue that is supposed to represent la Renaissance Africaine (the African Renaissance). This is also the theme of the FESMAN, which for the third time, has been postponed a year (or two, who knows?). It seems that Senegal is not ready for such a renaissance, if it is even ever going to happen. The statue itself is the image of a man with a woman clinging to him on the left and a baby, arm outstretched pointing to some unclear future, on the right. It absolutely reeks of agenda-pushing, political symbolism and megalomania. In fact, it would be interesting to do a study of hideous political statues around the world and what point in the career of their megalomaniac-creators they represent (specifically, I'm thinking of Suharto's 'Pizza Man' in Jakarta).



Not only is the statue a looming symbol of the President's enormous ego, it also represents perhaps some millions of dollars worth of public land that were exchanged for the monument's construcation. There are many conspiracy theories behind the monument's financing; some people claim that it is funded by North Korea (oddly enough), others are sure that it is a Free Mason's project. The only thing that is known for sure, announced by the President himself, is that the he inspired the design and therefore will be claiming 35% of the tourism profit, which he projects to be comparable to that reeled in by the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. Of course, he will be donating this to charity, a direct quote (translated) : "The copyright belongs to me and all funds earned as royalties will be earmarked for children and education." Now how is a president of a country, someone who is supposed to be a public servant, going to claim the design of a national monument to be his personal intellectual property?? It's just too much, and yet, for Wade, not enough. To top it off he is having his insidious son and successor-in-the-grooming, Karim Wade, manage the monument and its projected revenue. No comment.


For more details on the statue and the public's response, check out this short article.

La Renaissance Africaine (one head missing in it's current state)

A rendering of the final product featuring the Senegalese First family (Wade's son, Karim, as the Mini-Wade baby...lol.