Senegal's Wade keeps arts fire alive with new edifice

Known for its art-loving leaders, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade is intent on keeping the tradition alive with a slew of cultural buildings lined up for the coming months in what he has christened the 'Seven Wonders'.

Construction work has already begun in Dakar of a $30 million 'Museum of Black Civilisations' following a grandiose ground breaking ceremony last month that was attended by local and foreign dignitaries.

An earlier edifice, the $28 million African Renaissance monument, drew stinging criticism for being out of touch with economic reality as well as its poor aesthetics. But President Wade has said he will forge along with the construction of a 'Cultural Park' hosting the Seven Wonders and which will be dedicated to African youth and art lovers.

The museum is being built on a 2.2 hectare piece of land adjacent to another multi-million dollar building, the Grand National Theatre, which was inaugurated in April.

Culture ministry officials in Dakar told Africa Review that the museum, to be built in 28 months, would entirely be financed by the Chinese government.

President Wade last month said even though the designs of the structures were undertaken by Chinese architects, they were conceived with an African spirit and would allow the public to learn about African civilisations.

The gigantic six-storey Grand Theatre National with a capacity of over 70,000 was also constructed by the Chinese government while the Renaissance monument was drawn up by North Korean architects.

President Wade named the other six Wonders as the Grand Theatre National, the Museum of Contemporary Arts, the National Library (to be combined with the National Archives), the School of Fine Arts, the School of Architecture and the Music Palace.

The art-loving leader said that all the buildings will be located on an area to be known as the "Cultural Park". It is unclear how much the project will ultimately cost.

President Wade, 85, also organised the third World Festival of Black Arts in 2010 after a 34-year hiatus, an event estimated to have cost millions of dollars.

He paid homage to the festival's originator Leopold Sedar Senghor, Senegal's founding president who was an acclaimed poet and lover of the arts.

President Wade admitted that it was in an attempt to keep alive the cultural ideas of his late predecessor that he had constructed the much-maligned Monument de la Rennaissance Africaine- toutedas the world’s tallest monument - and also organised the Black Arts Festival.

The Senegalese leader also said that the Saudi king, Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz Al-Saud, had donated $10 million to help recondition parts of Gorée, the (in)famous slave island four kilometres off the capital, Dakar.