The exhibition, which brings together four African artists - two from Côte d'Ivoire and two from Senegal - aims to shed light on this indefinite feeling that crosses and integrates nostalgia for a past to which we feel we belong and the desire to shape the future according to our needs and desires.

The four artists, despite their different styles and techniques, are united by a clear vision and a well-defined awareness: the close relationship between a distant past, which evokes a thousand-year-old historical tradition, and a recent era in which they have been confronted with foreign cultures, iconographies and languages that have become their own. It is a present - and a future - to be constructed in a ‘lateral universal’, which holds together these different components, which are now an integral part of their identity.

A polymorphous identity, rich and articulated, which responds to the spirit of the times, to the articulation of a contemporary era marked by multiculturalism and complexity, and which shapes its future from a universalist and avant-garde perspective in the name of continuous experimentation.In this context, the works of the four artists address, in expressive and metaphorical form, urgent and necessary questions such as the link with cultural and iconographic roots, the demand for gender rights, migration and the hybrid forms of new societies. And, above all, the search for a new and original form of self-representation, independently created by the artist's own gaze.

The Atelier Céramiques Almadies, a historic place for artistic creation in the name of know-how and collective work, characterised by sharing and constructive criticism, is becoming the ideal venue for a group of artists who intend to weld together ancient and recent history with experimentation that shapes the future. At the same time, Dakar and its Biennial continue to be the crossroads and platform for the confrontation of different cultures, identities and creativities, and the Partcours the faithful mapping of the artistic situation in the city.

The title refers to Merleau-Ponty's assertion that time can be interpreted: ‘The past is an old future and a recent present, the present a near past and a recent future, the future finally a present and even a past to come’. The concept of the ‘lateral universal’ also belongs to the same philosopher.

Atelier Céramiques Almadies

Mauro Petroni's studio is undoubtedly the oldest private space in Dakar's cultural archipelago to be an established exhibition venue. His first artistic event took place in May 1991: since then, more than fifty exhibitions have been held here, not counting all those organised outside the walls. More than thirty years later, to coincide with the 15th Dakar Biennial and the 13th Partcours, the studio is breaking new ground in a collaboration with LIS10 an Italian gallery specialising in contemporary African art. Created in 2019 in Arezzo, Tuscany, by Alberto Chiavacci and Nicola Furini, with the curatorial collaboration of Alessandro Romanini, in just a few years this space has established itself on the international scene, through participation in the most important African art events, fairs, biennials and parallel galleries. In 2023, the group will be opening a branch in Paris, and soon in Hong Kong, to extend the reach of its activities.