Yala-la, 2021
Born in 1960 in Bobo-Dioulasso in Burkina-Faso, then Upper Volta, Abou Traoré comes from a line of forgers - a symbolic and social charge that goes beyond the technical dimension of the work.
The artist inherited the ancestral lost-wax technique from his father, Assane Traoré, and began his training at the age of 10 in the family workshop. Traore has been casting and sculpting in his own name since 1983, the year he broke away from the productivism that reigned in the family workshop to focus on artistic creation. He has also made improvements to the bronze-making technique in the Koko district of Bobo-Dioulasso (Quartier des bronziers).
His originality as an artist and his creativity brought him to the attention of the French Cultural Centre in Bobo-Dioulasso, which exhibited his work on numerous occasions.
His work is based on research into the Bobo tradition of the spirit of masks made from animals and a modern and contemporary syncretism. Through his work, he seeks to ease tensions and remind us of the values of living together, tradition and respect for the environment.