Seni Awa Camara, 1945-2026
Biography

Seni Awa Camara (also known as Seyni Awa Camara) was born around 1945 in Oussouye, in the Casamance region of Senegal, into the Jola ethnic group. Taught traditional pottery by her mother from childhood, she began shaping clay figures on her own terms from an early age, working from her home in Bignona.

Entirely self-taught, Camara created monumental terracotta sculptures — many-headed, multi-limbed totemic figures dense with animist imagery, maternity and the spiritual life of the Jola community — fired in an open-hearth kiln in her own courtyard. Her work draws on personal memory and what she described as spiritual 'gifts' rather than any formal artistic training.

Camara's international recognition began with her inclusion in Jean-Hubert Martin's landmark 1989 exhibition Magiciens de la Terre at the Centre Pompidou, followed by the 2001 Venice Biennale, 100% Africa at the Guggenheim Bilbao, and numerous institutional collections. She died on 25 January 2026 in Bignona, Senegal, at approximately 81 years old.