SOULEYMANE ARACHI (ANTIQUAIRE)

Son of an antique dealer and art dealer, Souleymane Arachi continues with a tireless fervor the collection started by his father, El Hadj Karimini Arachi, who arrived from Niger in the 1950s and died in 2006. He surveyed the villages of the region in search of rare pieces of Senufo heritage. Some peasants sometimes came to sell him the objects themselves. Arachi father then had the exceptional pieces he had acquired reproduced, selling the copies and keeping the authentic ones. This is how the impressive family collection was born. Souleymane has developed an almost anthropological knowledge of Senufo culture and traditions, but also of Lobi and Baule art, and of the societies of neighboring Mali. Often traveling in the region in search of some art craft treasures, he collects, as did his father, objects that the villagers no longer want and has built up over the years a collection of more than two thousand pieces covering all West African and Ivorian crafts. In the region, there is not until the most remote village that he does not know. His collection, which must fill 6 rooms of 30 m², is absolutely impressive: Senufo funeral beds, birds of culture (reward the village that has been the most productive), dance statues, calabashes, stools, canes, masks-heaumes, calaos, wambêlê, elaborate doors, Senufo art, Bambara, handicrafts from Guinea, Mali ... You can choose one at random, Souleymane will give you the name, the history and the precise function. In addition to his job as an antique dealer, our man is also a sculptor (especially specialized in furniture). His dream? To be present during his lifetime at the construction of a museum that would allow to preserve in the best possible conditions this priceless corpus telling a whole part of the history of the country and of the sub-region. "Every thing has a meaning. Each art object has an identity and an importance in society. Through my activities, I aim at man. Culture is at the center of everything. A cultural object, even if bought as a souvenir, responds to the idea that one keeps of a civilization, explains Souleymane. My father was always ready to buy a piece. He thought that if he didn't, this object would disappear to make people forget his identity, just like certain Senufo rituals that have now disappeared...". To discover absolutely.