Amadou Lamine Ngom, aka Docta (or “doctor” in urban Wolof), is one of the precursors of African graffiti. His urban art passion begins when his grandmother invites him to paint on the walls in her home in the 1980's. As his passion develops, so do his skills and style as an urban artist. Combining wild style, bubble, 3D and African masks, he also uses graffiti to raise awareness about socio-political issues faced by the Senegalese people. He is the founding member of Doxandem Squad, an international association of graffiti artists created in 1994 which promotes graffiti art and urban culture in Senegal as well as internationally.

Docta began his career in the 1990’s as a graffiti artist during the campaign Set Setal, which means “Keep it clean” and which was created as an urban street program designed to encourage people to keep their city environment clean. The graffiti artists would paint religious figures or other respected figures on the walls to incite people not to litter or urinate near the painted murals. As his alias suggests, Docta has indeed sought to remediate certain unhealthy practices that may develop in the city environment, which led him to participate in a number of awareness campaigns against racism, AIDS, Malaria and more recently Covid-19.  

 VDN 2010 (Dakar)

In 2008 along with other graffiti artists including Ati Diallo, Docta and Doxandem Squad initiated the program Graff & Sante, which promotes access to healthcare in underserved areas while bringing prevention and awareness through graffiti. Between 2008 and 2020 Docta has been travelling across the country to raise awareness against AIDS and malaria which is the number one health issue in Senegal. 

          
                                                Graffiti awareness against AIDS (2011)

          
                        “Sida” (AIDS)        “Le palu tue,combattons-le” (Malaria kills,let’s fight it”)

Since March 2020 Docta has been working with a number of Senegalese graffiti artists raising awareness in urban and rural areas about the danger of Covid-19 and its prevention.

“Toog leen seen ker” (Stay at home) (2020)                              Covid-19 prevention

During the pandemic, Docta has also been inviting the population to recognize the courage of the Senegalese doctors in fighting against the Coronavirus. In addition to his graffitis, he has also posted videos of awareness and prevention on social media.  

                                                                                     Works Cited

Elhone, Aude L. Le graffiti pour sauver des vies: L’art s’engage Contre le Coronavirus au Senegal. Fondation Dapper. (2020)

       [WEB 8.16.2020]

Diouf, Mamadou. “Fresques murales et écriture de l’histoire: Le Set/Setal a Dakar” Politique africaine, 46 (1992), pp. 41-54
Nimis, Erika. “Le graffiti est une forme d’art contestataire qui permet avant tout de sensibiliser les populations” Interview with Docta. ZinTV (2013) [Web 8.17.2020]

 
Notes:
Festigraff event are based on a known Pan African figure, here we have Cheikh Anta Diop and Amilcar Cabral for 2015 and 2016 Festigraff festivals: 

2013 at Paris HipHop in honor of Mandela: