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Bët-bi Museum

Status: Current
Location: Kaolack region, Senegal

Bët-bi is a museum commissioned by the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation/Le Korsa. It is designed to form part of the landscape, making it an open public space for all. The history of the site itself was the strongest inspiration, in particular, the Saloum Kingdom, a place founded by the Serer and the Mandinka people, who were later joined by other ethnic groups. The Mandinka have historically been people of empire and monumental architecture, which provided direct references for the building. The Serer, held a deeply mystical indigenous religion that had an intimate relationship to the natural elements: the sun, the wind, water, ancestral spirits. The starting point came from looking at this traditional spiritual realm and the series of triangles that define the relationship between the elements, the living and the dead – a self-renewing cycle. It also provided a good way of organising program that is interconnected yet distinct.

By sinking the galleries below the ground, we are referencing back to the sacrility of the land, honoring what came before while creating a space for art and creative expression. For far too long the region has been a place where cultural wealth is pillaged to profit museum collections. Bët-bi Museum was an opportunity to design a new type of space that is inspired by the roots and spiritual legacy of the region. It is a chance to push the boundaries of what defines a museum in the 21 century.