Exhibition by Senegalese Graffiti Artists Opens October 15, 2021

The residency will offer exciting opportunities for the Hampshire, Five College, Town of Amherst, and Pioneer Valley communities to enter into dialogue with the artists through open studio sessions, workshops, and visiting lectures. An exhibition of new graffiti works realized during MadZoo’s and Mow’s residency will open in the Hampshire College Art Gallery on October 15, 2021, in conjunction with Hampshire College’s 50th Anniversary weekend. At 7:30 p.m., the artists will introduce their work and the show and host a Q & A for guests.

Look and Feel is curated by Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and Visual Studies Jennifer Bajorek, and will be integrated with Hampshire’s new academic curriculum. Students enrolled in arts writing, digital media, global migration, and economics courses, among others, will do studio visits and incorporate conversations with the artists into their coursework. The artists will host open studios for Hampshire and Five College students and the wider communities throughout their residency.

Serigne Mansour Fall is a Senegalese graffiti artist evolving under the name MadZoo TRK (The Radikl Killuminati). He began his career as a graffiti artist in 2004, in Dakar, after studying philosophy at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD). He is the co-founder and president of the transnational West Africa-based graffiti supergroup Radikl Bomb Shot Crew. He has organized or participated as an artist in numerous graffiti festivals around the world, including, at home in Senegal, Festigraff, Graff et Santé, 72H of Hip Hop-Galsen, The Last Wall Tour, the Dak’ART Biennial, and the “Hip Hop Feeling” television program; and, abroad, The Regraff inBenin, Assalamoualeykoum Festival in Mauritania, and La Grande Braderie d’Art in France. Other projects include those realized for the Google Cultural Institute, Africulturban, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Université Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar, Senegal, Virginia Tech, AEROSOUL in Oakland, CA, and ARTSTECH in Kansas City, MO. MadZoo is the visual art director of the arts education program, SUNU THIOSSANE and manager of the West Africa chapter of the Black Panther Party. In addition to graffiti and street art, MadZoo paints on canvas, draws comics, designs streetwear, and works in digital media.

Mouhamadou Moustapha Souaré is a Senegalese artist and cultural activist also known as Mow 504 or King Mow (Master of Wisdom). Mow began his career in graffiti and street art in 2004, in Dakar, where he is a founding member of the transnational West Africa-based graffiti supergroup, Radikl Bomb Shot Crew, whose members hail from Senegal, Cameroon, Uganda, Ghana, France, and Switzerland. He has organized or participated as an artist in numerous international graffiti festivals and exhibitions in West Africa, including Festigraff (the longest-running graffiti festival on the African continent), XEEX Festival, Graff et Santé, FESTA 2H, 72H of Hip Hop-Galsen, The Last Wall Tour, Festival SALAAM, the Dak’ART Biennial, Djaram’Art, and Festival THIAROYE 44. Other projects include collaborations with or commissions for cultural agencies and organizations such as Africulturban, GHipHop, Google Cultural Institute, the British Council, La Francophonie, ONU Femme, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). In addition to graffiti and street art, King Mow works in digital media, including 2D/3D animation, video mapping, virtual reality, and augmented reality. His streetwear designs can be found on Eskis, the online boutique.

This program has been generously sponsored by the Office of the Dean of the Faculty, the Global Education Office, and the Studio Arts Program at Hampshire College, with additional support from:

• The Five College African Studies Council
• The Georges Lurcy Lecture Series Fund, Amherst College
• The Black Studies Department, Amherst College
• The Eastman Fund, Amherst College
• The English Department Language and Literature Fund, Amherst College
• The Lecture Fund, Amherst College
• The French Program, Mount Holyoke College
• The Department of French and Francophone Studies, Smith College
• The French and Francophone Studies Program, UMass-Amherst
• The Five College Lecture Fund
• The Jackie Pritzen Fund