Océane Harati On Promoting African Art And Founding Contemporary Gallery OH
Creating a tailor-made experience for every visitor with the address voluntarily kept confidential, the Dakar-based gallery is on a mission to promote cultural exchange in Senegal and celebrate art hailing from the African continent
Based in Dakar, Senegal, contemporary art gallery OH was inaugurated two years ago with a purpose of making art accessible to as many people in Senegal and the rest of the sub-region as possible. The space is entirely dedicated to promoting creativity stemming from the African continent, extending to gastronomy and culture too.
“When I created OH, I was obsessed with contributing to the structuring and development of the Senegalese market by facilitating acquisitions,” says Océane Harati, Founder and Director of OH Gallery.
“As a novice, without much money, but eager to learn and acquire, I had never found a gallery to accompany me to start a collection or to explain how this environment worked. This is where the idea of OH Gallery came from.” Océane discovered a niche of consumers who represented herself: non-collectors, interested laymen, young people and especially the Senegalese community.
Driven to give local artists a permanent home for their work, Océane’s main purpose has been to reward the artists the recognition they deserve. “Dakar is a recognised cultural capital, yet outside the international rendezvous that is the Biennale, none of us see these great artists exhibited in there,” she says.
Océane Harati, Founder and Director of OH. Photo by Moustapha Loum
“It was necessary for them to have a permanent presence on the continent and be in public or private African collections. A mission that would also have repercussions on the local economy, development, increased exchanges with the sub-region, in addition to participating in the constitution of a strong national identity.”
The gallery’s latest exhibition entitled Kamerun was co-curated by Mohamed A. Cissé, marking the second time Océane has invited a curator at the gallery. “Mohamed A. Cissé has a beautiful career and a great experience in the contemporary art world,” she notes of Mohamed, who was the Director of Galerie MAM in Douala for three years.
Installation view of OH Gallery.
“Co-curating is a difficult but interesting exercise, which offers many possibilities, including access to other artists, apart from those represented by the gallery, in order to expand the collections of our buyers.” Fuelled by diversity, the show featured over 80 artworks revolving around the country of Cameroon in Central Africa, uniting ten emerging and established artists from across regions.
“We wanted to broaden this artistic scene in order to deliver a different vision and to dismantle the widespread clichés of a creation on the continent that is more Africanised than it is,” expresses Océane.
As a young woman born and raised in Senegal, art and culture had a vast influence on Océane’s perspective of life and she hopes to impart the same experience on her fellow citizens. “Contemporary art has opened my mind and myself to others, sharpened my perceptions, multiplied my abilities, created new opportunities, given me choice and opened up voices that did not exist before,” she says. “But above all, it has made me independent and absolutely free. Free of everything.”
Installation view of OH Gallery.
Interestingly, OH Gallery’s address is voluntarily kept confidential, operating only by appointment to ensure a privileged relationship with visitors. “This appointment format, to my great surprise, has proven to be a major tool for differentiation and in my approach to structuring the market,” says Océane. “The confidentiality of the gallery added an aura to the place and a genuine desire.”
As for many galleries, the shock of the pandemic for OH was challenging to manage initially, taking a surprising turn with time. Since then, the number of local collectors has tripled and the digital platforms have introduced a whole new clientele, broadening the audience in a way that may not have ever been possible before.
“We have certainly entered the digital age and have had to compete in techniques to share our content online and on our social networks to maintain contact with our collectors abroad, but in Senegal, for my part, the need for art and culture has been real,” she says. “The pandemic has awakened something. We have become essential to maintain the link.”
In an effort to promote culture in all its facets, the gallery also hosts an innovative ‘The Collectors’ Dinner’, which coincides with each exhibition, prompting artistic exchange and dialogue where the featured artist is discussed and celebrated. “Art is the food of the mind. Eating is as unifying as art. I started from this conviction to create The Collectors’ Dinner,” says Océane.
“I needed my collectors to feel included in a whole. This is why, at each individual exhibition, I invite them to have dinner at the gallery, whether or not it’s a chef’s show, around the featured artist so that they can meet and exchange ideas. We are no longer in a purely commercial relationship. We are intimate, friends and share the same attachment to the artists I work with.”
Installation view of OH Gallery.
In almost two years, the gallery has exhibited 20 artists and presently represents eight of them. Among them are Senegalese artist Aliou Diack, who was also represented by the gallery at this year’s Abu Dhabi Art fair, Sambou Diouf, who was discovered by OH and recently signed visual artist-cum-dancer Alioune Diagne, whose work we will be exhibited in 2021.
Others include Méné, Gopal Dagnogo, Hako Hankson, Patrick-Joël Tatcheda Yonkeu and Jeewi Lee. “Contemporary art has all the roles to play. Today it contributes fully to many economic sectors. Likewise, it concerns everyone, since it is a reflection of our societies,” expresses Harati. “It is federative, a creator of social cohesion and of a national identity in constant mutation.”
Images courtesy of OH Gallery
From the Winter 2020 Issue of Harper’s BAZAAR Interiors, The Art Issue