Stone-Ideas.com 
Abdoul Salam Zigani is a sculptor from Burkina Faso. In his work he deals with his country and the people, more precisely: with the people’s coexistence. And through the composition of the shapes and the selection of materials he takes a very precise position on how he wants this coexistence to be.
He often brings faces together, usually only half faces, which are halved from top to bottom. One half is made of stone, the other half of wood.
What is striking about all the works that we have seen on his Facebook page is how close he positions these faces to each other: They always nestle close together and also look in one direction.
Of course, he is also concerned with the fact that these people are very different. He writes about the world in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, where he lives: “In our societies, we are all different in our way of thinking and behaving; regardless of our ethnicity, our religion, our gender, we are obliged to tolerate each other, to understand each other for good social cohesion.“
He also expresses the difference through his choice of materials. He calls his way of working “complementation“ (Complémentarité): “I want to express that people are all different, but one needs the other.“
As a child (with two siblings), drawing was the passion of the man who is now in his mid-forties. After secondary school, he went to an uncle to learn how to work artistically with wood. Later, stone was added. In the meantime, he has taken part in regional and international exhibitions, as he writes.
He does not seem to be picky when it comes to choosing the materials for his work. On the contrary: He is often inspired by leftover pieces or waste and incorporates a given form into his depiction.
Numerous works are placed on stands that were once gears and served in everyday life. Mopeds and motorcycles are important means of transport and locomotion in Africa.
Burkina Faso is located south of the Sahara in the Sahel zone. To the north it is surrounded by Mali and Niger, to the south by the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and Benin nestled in the large arc that the South Atlantic makes there. The country itself is land-bound.
Photos: Abdoul Salam Zigani
