Baba’s Art School – 101: #26 - "Seeing Life As A Sacred Journey"

Paul G. Chandler

Oct 1

4 min read

“You can’t begin too soon to encourage an appreciation of art! And each artwork has a story.”

Seeing Life As A Sacred Journey - by Paul G. Chandler

Baba with his two oldest grandchildren, showing them a painting by Senegalese artist Saadio

I have been thinking about what lessons I would like to impart to my three grandchildren. Amidst a number of important lessons that come to mind, the perspective of seeing life as a sacred journey, as a pilgrimage, is preeminent – a way of seeing that I would love them to embrace.

So, I thought it was an excellent time to show them a painting I acquired not long ago at an exhibition by the noted Senegalese contemporary artist Saadio, held at Le Djoloff, an artistic boutique hotel in Dakar, Senegal.

Saadio, Symbol of a Journey, 2025, Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 50 cm — Saadio, *Symbol of a Journey*, 2025, Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 50 cm

Of the painting, titled “Symbol of a Journey,” Saadio says;

“This work tells the story of a traveler who meets different peoples and cultures during his journey, and who is changed during his journey. He writes down what he sees and learns from each encounter. It shows how these experiences help the traveler grow and see the world in new ways, expanding his or her perspective. The work includes several Fulani and Igbo symbols that reflect the many experiences a traveler lives through during his or her journey.”

The religious circle I was raised in taught that one should eventually spiritually “arrive.” Putting borders on belief, breeds a sense of finality to the spiritual journey. I believe it is much more life-giving to see ourselves first and foremost as pilgrims, always journeying in life, towards the Divine Artist, and what the poet-artist Kahlil Gibran describes as “our greater selves.”

I love to imagine ourselves as “people of pilgrimage.” A pilgrim is someone on the move, always journeying, exploring, discovering, and therefore more open to asking others for directions, meeting new people, and even learning from others who are different than ourselves. Living as a pilgrim requires an attitude of openness to receiving from the “other,” whomever they are, in order to reach the destination of becoming most fully ourselves.

Baba's grandchildren identify symbols in the painting

The artist Saadio (born Mamadou Sadio Diallo in 1965) quite profoundly embodies this perspective of life as an interior journey toward discovering our truest selves. His approach to creating evolved gradually as a result of various life experiences and inspirational encounters on his journey. Saadio grew up in a neighborhood in the capital city of Dakar among many Cape Verdeans (from the Cap Verde Islands off the coast of West Africa), many of whom were billboard painters. As a youth, he observed them creating colorful advertisements for everything from soft drinks, to photographic film, to a local beautician’s shop. This experience inspired him to want to draw and paint. Tragically, he was kicked out of his home by his father who completely disapproved of his artistic bent. He eventually became a telephone technician, and just happened to work across the street from one of West Africa’s most renowned artists, Kalidou Kassé. For five years, almost daily, Saadio would visit the great artist’s studio to watch him create; “And every day when I saw him paint, something vibrated within me.” Later Saadio’s journey led him to the celebrated Senegalese artist Kré Mbaye, who mentored him.

However, it was a chance encounter through a book highlighting the work of the famous African American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988), who rose to success during the late 1970s and 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement, that transformed his artistic trajectory. It was a profound artistic epiphany for Saadio: “By reading about his career, I saw myself. His journey inspired me enormously. . . Almost everything about Basquiat spoke to me.” Not only was he inspired by Basquiat’s artistic style, encouraging him to embrace raw urban graffiti and symbols, Basquiat’s life experience also resonated with Saadio - as he had lived on the streets for a time as well.

While some have given him the nickname “the Senegalese Basquiat,” it is not something he encourages; “I don’t want to be called Basquiat. . .” Rather he says, “I try to promote Africanness. . . . Not Basquiat.” Saadio allowed his early encounters with other gifted artists and experiences in different environments, even living on the streets, to guide him to artistically express himself most authentically. As a result, his inner search has resulted in his paintings expressing evocative visual conversations between ancestral and contemporary Africa.

*Baba pointing out some of the painting's highlights*

This painting by Saadio reminds me that we are all called to an inner quest throughout life, to always journey ever deeper. As Rainer Maria Rilke, the Austrian poet-artist and mystic wrote, “The only journey is the one within.” Seeing ourselves as pilgrims, and never expecting to arrive at a destination so that the journey ends, allows us to continually experience the beauty and magnificence of the Divine Artist – a fathomless creative mystery of immeasurable and unconditional inspiration and blessing that very often results from encounters with those different than ourselves.

This inspirational painting by Saadio reminds me of a marvelous verse in Psalm (Zabur) 84, which is known as the “Pilgrim Poem.” In the very middle of the poem, the poet writes, “Blessed are those who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.”

P.S. My two oldest grandchildren loved trying to identify the symbols in the paintings, and my grandson interpreted one of the numerically-oriented symbols as a “number bond” that he had learned about recently in his first-grade class.