Boukaré Bonkoungou

Vincent de Paul Zoungrana & Boukaré Bonkoungou

Vincent de Paul ZOUNGRANA was born in Koudougou, a small town in Burkina Faso. He took classes in sculpture and painting in the Missionary Training Centre. Quickly recognized for his talent, he gravitates to the capital Ouagadougou where he works in the Centre National d'Art et d'Artisanat (CNAA) and later opening in the year 2000 his own gallery-workshop. All is linked: he participates in symposiums on sculpture in Burkina Faso and exhibits in Mali, Switzerland, France and from 2015 he also shows his work in Spain. Vincent de Paul works with bronze, iron and stone, incorporating objects he has recovered. The endearing human or animal forms, emphasize facial expressions and movement. 

Boukaré BONKOUNGOU was born April 1978 in Koubri, Burkina Faso. He began sculpting at the family workshop before also joining the Centre National d'art et d'Artisanat (CNAA) in Ouagadougou to perfect his art. In 2002 Boukaré was awarded the Ouagadougou International Hall of Arts and Handicrafts (SIAO) Prize. With an outstanding mastery of bronze casting using the lost wax process, the artist combines bronze and recovered wood and in certain cases uses traditional Bogolan cloth. Boukaré combs the savannah to find a piece of wood that has the ideal shape. This natural landscape is a source of inspiration and thus the carefully collected wood is given a second life. Made complete by the addition of bronze, these forms result in extraordinary figurative sculptures.