full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Touria El Glaoui: Inside Africa's thriving art scene

Unscramble the Blue Letters


So how can art tell you peoufwrl stories? I want to share with you this series by segaslenee aistrt Omar vtcior Diop. This is a series of self-portraits, and the artist in this particular series is focusing on the representation of Africans in art history between the 15th to the 19th century. I want to show you how, with one image, Diop is able to touch on our African iittdney, on the politics of representation, but also on our saocil value system.

In this particular self-portrait, Diop is actually referencing another portrait by Anne-Louis Girodet. This picture is doing a portrait of Jean-Baptiste Belley. Jean-Baptiste Belley was a native of Senegal, a former slave of Haiti, but during his letmiife, he also was elected to represent the colony at the third government of the French Revolution, and he aaovecdtd strongly for the abolition of slavery. What is very sarmt and clever about Diop here is that he's going back to history. He's reclaiming this fgruie by restaging this beautiful royal blue uniform, where he is rnsgiteag also the pose, and he's doing that to actually underline the issues that are still impacting individuals of color today. There was nothing special about this very typical political portrait of the time, except that for the first time, an iinuvadidl of color, in that case, Jean-Baptiste belely, was actually named and acknowledged in a painting. What Diop is adding to this picture is this crucial element, which is the ftlaobol under his arm, and by doing that, Diop is actually tncuiohg at our hero worship culture of African football stars, who unfortunately, despite their fame, their immense talent, and their royalty status, they are still invisible. Diop is asking us to dig deeepr, to go beyond history and what has been written, and, basically, see how it still iunlfceens and impacts us in the present.

Open Cloze


So how can art tell you ________ stories? I want to share with you this series by __________ ______ Omar ______ Diop. This is a series of self-portraits, and the artist in this particular series is focusing on the representation of Africans in art history between the 15th to the 19th century. I want to show you how, with one image, Diop is able to touch on our African ________, on the politics of representation, but also on our ______ value system.

In this particular self-portrait, Diop is actually referencing another portrait by Anne-Louis Girodet. This picture is doing a portrait of Jean-Baptiste Belley. Jean-Baptiste Belley was a native of Senegal, a former slave of Haiti, but during his ________, he also was elected to represent the colony at the third government of the French Revolution, and he _________ strongly for the abolition of slavery. What is very _____ and clever about Diop here is that he's going back to history. He's reclaiming this ______ by restaging this beautiful royal blue uniform, where he is _________ also the pose, and he's doing that to actually underline the issues that are still impacting individuals of color today. There was nothing special about this very typical political portrait of the time, except that for the first time, an __________ of color, in that case, Jean-Baptiste ______, was actually named and acknowledged in a painting. What Diop is adding to this picture is this crucial element, which is the ________ under his arm, and by doing that, Diop is actually ________ at our hero worship culture of African football stars, who unfortunately, despite their fame, their immense talent, and their royalty status, they are still invisible. Diop is asking us to dig ______, to go beyond history and what has been written, and, basically, see how it still __________ and impacts us in the present.

Solution


  1. figure
  2. football
  3. belley
  4. restaging
  5. social
  6. identity
  7. lifetime
  8. influences
  9. senegalese
  10. victor
  11. touching
  12. deeper
  13. individual
  14. advocated
  15. smart
  16. artist
  17. powerful

Original Text


So how can art tell you powerful stories? I want to share with you this series by Senegalese artist Omar Victor Diop. This is a series of self-portraits, and the artist in this particular series is focusing on the representation of Africans in art history between the 15th to the 19th century. I want to show you how, with one image, Diop is able to touch on our African identity, on the politics of representation, but also on our social value system.

In this particular self-portrait, Diop is actually referencing another portrait by Anne-Louis Girodet. This picture is doing a portrait of Jean-Baptiste Belley. Jean-Baptiste Belley was a native of Senegal, a former slave of Haiti, but during his lifetime, he also was elected to represent the colony at the third government of the French Revolution, and he advocated strongly for the abolition of slavery. What is very smart and clever about Diop here is that he's going back to history. He's reclaiming this figure by restaging this beautiful royal blue uniform, where he is restaging also the pose, and he's doing that to actually underline the issues that are still impacting individuals of color today. There was nothing special about this very typical political portrait of the time, except that for the first time, an individual of color, in that case, Jean-Baptiste Belley, was actually named and acknowledged in a painting. What Diop is adding to this picture is this crucial element, which is the football under his arm, and by doing that, Diop is actually touching at our hero worship culture of African football stars, who unfortunately, despite their fame, their immense talent, and their royalty status, they are still invisible. Diop is asking us to dig deeper, to go beyond history and what has been written, and, basically, see how it still influences and impacts us in the present.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
hassan hajjaj 3
lawrence lemaoana 3
art matters 2
omar victor 2
victor diop 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
omar victor diop 2

Important Words


  1. abolition
  2. acknowledged
  3. adding
  4. advocated
  5. african
  6. africans
  7. arm
  8. art
  9. artist
  10. basically
  11. beautiful
  12. belley
  13. blue
  14. case
  15. century
  16. clever
  17. colony
  18. color
  19. crucial
  20. culture
  21. deeper
  22. dig
  23. diop
  24. elected
  25. element
  26. fame
  27. figure
  28. focusing
  29. football
  30. french
  31. girodet
  32. government
  33. haiti
  34. hero
  35. history
  36. identity
  37. image
  38. immense
  39. impacting
  40. impacts
  41. individual
  42. individuals
  43. influences
  44. invisible
  45. issues
  46. lifetime
  47. named
  48. native
  49. omar
  50. painting
  51. picture
  52. political
  53. politics
  54. portrait
  55. pose
  56. powerful
  57. present
  58. reclaiming
  59. referencing
  60. represent
  61. representation
  62. restaging
  63. revolution
  64. royal
  65. royalty
  66. senegal
  67. senegalese
  68. series
  69. share
  70. show
  71. slave
  72. slavery
  73. smart
  74. social
  75. special
  76. stars
  77. status
  78. stories
  79. strongly
  80. system
  81. talent
  82. time
  83. today
  84. touch
  85. touching
  86. typical
  87. underline
  88. uniform
  89. victor
  90. worship
  91. written