Abdoulaye Niang
Abdoulaye Niang (1878–1919), from Dakar, served in the French army before being wounded, captured and interned in Germany during the First World War. Recorded in Wolof in Berlin in 1917, he criticised French recruitment campaigns and described Europe’s battlefields as an abattoir for African soldiers. A century later, Serigne Matar Nyang became his first listener, translator and interlocutor. Serigne presents the historical recording and speaks in the sound piece accessed via QR code.
Where the work has travelled
- Dakar, 2024 — sound installation at the Théodore Monod Museum of African Art
- Ghent, 2026 — poster and listening session at the Orpheus Institute
- Berlin, 2026 — poster presented at Haus der Kulturen der Welt
- Basel, 2026 — poster presented at the VAD Conference and placed on continuing display at Basler Afrika Bibliographien
- Cologne, 2026 — poster placed at the Institute for African Studies and Egyptology, University of Cologne
Speakers: Abdoulaye Niang (Wolof 1917) and Serigne Matar Niang (English 2024)
Image, research and curation: Anette Hoffmann
Production, co-curation, sound editing: Rosemary Lombard (@fleurmach_sound)
Historical recordings: lautarchiv@hu-berlin.de