The Baltimore Museum of Art opened Woven Monuments: Tapestry and Identity in Senegal on October 25, and it runs through March 7, 2027.
The show brings together approximately 12 monumental works produced primarily at the state-supported Manufactures sénégalaises des arts décoratifs de Thiès, by artists including Badara Camara, Théodore Diouf, Khalifa Gueye, Souleymane Keïta, Papa Ibra Tall, and Mouhamadou M'baye.
Blending modernist abstraction with scenes from Senegalese history, daily life, and natural landscapes, the tapestries trace how Senegal shaped a new national identity after independence in 1960, and how these works traveled the world as cultural ambassadors.
For COZĀRT, this one hits home: weaving as monument, pattern as language, craft as nation building. If you are anywhere near Baltimore this fall, go see cloth at this scale in person.