Name: Issa Pouye
Made by and When: Madame Fabinta Lo, 2014
Material: Cloth, wire, thread, sturdy form for the body
Marks: Unmarked
Height: 10 inches
Hair, Eyes, Mouth: Wears a cloth cap (no hair); diagonally stitched black eyes, horizontally stitched red mouth, (no nose)
Clothes: Wears traditional multicolored dashiki, matching pants, matching satchel, purple cap, sewn-on purple cloth sandals; has a yellow Ankara draw-string storage bag trimmed in gold and yellow Ankara.
Other: A gift from Paulette Richards, Ph.D. who acquired Issa Pouye from the artist, Fabinta Lo, while in Senegal completing a 1-year Fulbright Teaching Fellowship, Issa represents a boy from the Peul ethnic group in West Africa. His backstory, as told by Dr. Richards is the Peul are traditionally nomadic herders, but Issa has left his rural village to attend school in the city. He lives with his uncle and shares a room with five cousins. Although life in such cramped quarters is often difficult, Issa is determined to become an agronomist so he can go home and help his family.
About the Artist: Originally a Spanish professor, Mme. Lo began working with children of Senegalese immigrants when she moved to Italy in 1999. Recognizing that these children needed more positive reinforcement of their identity, she set out to make dolls that would represent traditional aspects of Senegalese culture and history. —Paulette Richards, Ph.D.
See additional one-of-a-kind, handmade Senegalese dolls by Mme. Lo here.
Gallery
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