Alioune Diagne’s Paintings Uncover the Hidden Connections Between Basketball and Senegalese Wrestling.
- mry2117
- Mar 28
- 3 min read
Little Senegal, a neighborhood in West Harlem, is home to a large Senegalese community. Our reporter Maud Yaïche visits a new exhibition by Senegalese artist Alioune Diagne. The show is called Jokko, which means "connection" in Wolof, and explores the relationship between basketball in the U.S. and Senegalese wrestling—two sports that inspire big dreams, especially among young Senegalese men.
"In this painting, you can see two wrestlers in the middle of a fight. I wanted these two wrestlers to represent basketball teams—as if they were two competing teams. The first wrestler on the right is wearing an outfit in orange and blue. And if you think about basketball, in the NBA, the team that wears orange and blue is New York." - Alioune Diagne
The artist explains that both sports create the same fascination among young people in his home country. For him, the American dream of becoming a basketball player in the U.S. is very similar to the dream of becoming a professional wrestler in Senegal.
"Young people here dream of becoming basketball players because, for them, making it in basketball can help them achieve a better standard of living and the means to survive. In Senegal, the sport that inspires young people the most is wrestling. They also dream of a better life and see wrestling as a possible way to reach it." - Alioune Diagne
Mark Hann is an anthropologist who studies Senegalese wrestling.
"I think that the star wrestlers in Senegal are real icons for the whole country. Everyone knows their name, everyone knows about them, and everyone knows when they are fighting. The media is full of reports about them. Every aspect of their lives is scrutinized, and they're huge stars. They’re quite aspirational for a lot of young men." Mark Hann:
Wrestling, just like basketball, captivates young men in Senegal who dream of making it big. This sport is one of the most popular in Senegal. In Dakar, the capital, matches take place in the national arena and draw huge crowds. These events are filled with excitement, as seen in a video on YouTube called Senegalese Wrestling Highlights.
"You fight in a sandy arena, which is surrounded by sandbags. The surface is sand. One of the wrestlers will usually start with punches—punches to the face and to the body. These are bare-knuckle punches, so as you can imagine, it can be quite painful and bloody. It's possible for a fight to end with a knockout." - Mark Hann
In Little Senegal, Harlem, the Association of Senegalese in the U.S. is packed with Senegalese men of all ages. In a small office in the back, four people are working. One of them is the Association president, a man in his mid-thirties. He says he loves wrestling.
Maud: "Do you also follow wrestling?"
President: "Of course, I follow it. Do you mean the championship or individual wrestling?"
Maud: "Are you from the U.S. or Senegal?" President: "I was born in one country and raised and educated in another."
Outside, in the street, two young men are hanging out near a deli. One of them, Cher, is 25. He was raised in the U.S. and, despite the fascination with wrestling, he is not very interested.
"I mean, I don’t watch wrestling that much. It’s definitely more of a family thing. I watch it with my family. On my own time, I never really watch it as much. [Maud: "Do you prefer basketball?"] Yes, I’m a basketball player." - Cher
For Cher, wrestling is more about family. For Alioune Diagne, his paintings are also deeply connected to his family. Even though his paintings are figurative, if you look closely, you’ll see tiny brush strokes that almost resemble writing.
"The technique came to me right after the passing of my grandfather, who was a Quranic teacher and wrote in Arabic. Since he never taught me Arabic, I thought to myself after he passed, ‘I’ll do as he did—I’ll write on my paintings.’" - Alioune Diagne
Diagne’s exhibition is on view at the Templon Gallery until May 1st.
Maud Yaïche, Columbia Radio News.
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