By Paul G. Chandler - January 20, 2025.

Kalidou Kassé, Door of Hope, 2022, Acrylic and mixed media (Gorée Island soil and metal keys) on canvas, 247 × 107cm
Martin Luther King, Jr., whom we commemorate today, was assassinated almost 57 years ago. That evening, Senator Robert F. Kennedy was scheduled to give a speech in a park within a predominately African American neighborhood in the city of Indianapolis. The crowd was not yet aware of the assassination. Kennedy started out, “Ladies and Gentlemen. . . I have some very sad news for all of you. . . sad news for all of our fellow citizens, and people who love peace all over the world; and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and was killed tonight in Memphis, Tennessee.” The crowd gasped, giving full attention to what he was going to say next in a short impromptu speech.
In his moving words that led the audience toward reflection, forgiveness and hope, he recited by heart a poignant verse by his favorite poet, the Greek poet Aeschylus: "In our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God."
Within the tragedy of the moment, Kennedy opened for his listeners a profound door of hope. Shortly before his death, Martin Luther King, Jr. counseled in one of his writings, that “we must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”
However, the disappointments and challenges of the present time can often feel infinite. I am reminded of some words from my favorite poet, the 18th century English poet William Blake: “In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between, there are doors.”
Last May while in Senegal, West Africa, I had the privilege of experiencing a remarkable painting titled Door of Hope by the renowned Senegalese artist Kalidou Kassé. It hangs near the entrance of the imposing African Renaissance Monument, known as Africa’s largest statue. I use the word “experienced” as opposed to “seeing” the painting, as I have found myself metaphorically “sitting” in front of the work now for eight months, walking through its “door of hope” time and time again.

Kalidou Kassé, Door of Hope, 2022
The painting artistically alludes to the infamous “Door of No Return” at the House of Slaves (Maison des Esclaves) on the Island of Gorée, 3 km off the coast of the city of Dakar, where enslaved people were forcibly taken by ship to the Americas. Today the House of Slaves is a museum and memorial to the millions of victims of the Atlantic slave trade. According to the museum’s late founding curator, Boubacar Joseph Ndiaye, this UNESCO World Heritage site memorializes the final exit point for up to 15 million slaves from Africa sent to the Americas, who passed through this particular “door of no return.” Today over 200,000 visitors a year visit the museum, including many descendants of enslaved Africans, making a pilgrimage to reconnect with their African heritage. As you can imagine, visiting this historic site is a deeply emotional experience – sobering and even haunting.

House of Slaves (Maison des Esclaves) on the Island of Gorée, Senegal
While the “door of no return” reminds us of the horrible toll of human slavery over hundreds of years, the artist Kalidou Kassé directs our attention to the future, reminding us, just as Martin Luther King, Jr. did, that in spite of any circumstances, hope can always be our guiding star. As my own namesake in first century wrote, “Hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”

To help me in contemplating this inspiring painting, I read a beautiful novel aptly titled Beyond the Door of No Return by David Diop, the Senegalese writer and Booker Prize winner. It is a mesmerizing story illustrating how life’s darkest corners can be illuminated unexpectedly. The novel centers around a Senegalese woman named Maram who was sold into slavery but managed to escape from the Island of Gorée before the transatlantic journey, ending up in a small village hidden in the forest. There, due to what she had suffered, she becomes a healer of others, using indigenous holistic and spiritual practices. Understood to be a “revenant,” someone who returns from the dead, she in turn gives life to others, even to a French colonialist associated with those who were her former enslavers. Toward the end of the book, Diop writes, in the words of the Frenchman, “. . . after our brief escape beyond the door to the voyage of no return. . . I realized then. . . that painting. . . has the power to reveal to ourselves our secret humanity. Through art, we can sometimes push open a hidden door leading to the darkest part of our being. . . And, once that door is wide open, the corners of our soul are so brightly illuminated. . .” It is this illumination, a divine hope, that takes one “beyond the door of no return.”
I find that the way Diop writes about the potential impact of art is similar to the effect Kalidou Kassé’s numinous Door of Hope painting has on the viewer. So, I reached out to the artist himself to learn more about what he was attempting to communicate through this multi-media work.
L to R:
Detail from Kassé's Door of Hope painting / The Door of No Return at the House of Slaves on Gorée Island
Addressing the underlying message of his painting, Kassé says, “Door of Hope is my reflection on the way we should journey through the present time, and on the manner in which we face both the challenges and opportunities after the dark period of slavery, and the historical alienation of Africa. Our awakening must come about as rebirth following a long night, where we realize that we are the artisans of our own destiny.”

While standing in front of the painting, the physical keys he has placed throughout it captured my attention - one facing upwards and the others downwards, as well as a broken key on the ground. Kassé explains, “The key facing upwards represents an opening, an aspiration. . . hope. The keys facing downwards, embody closure, which for me is the retention of the memory of the past. The broken key symbolizes the hope of a new day.” Kassé also applied red, ochre and black sand to the painting, taken from the Island of Gorée itself. Additionally, he embedded shadowy impressionistic figures into the foreground walls, “to remind us that the spirits of our ancestors accompany and watch over us as we walk this passageway towards hope, to a field of new possibilities.”
While the work was not created specifically for the African Renaissance Monument, it has taken on a particular meaning there, as the monument itself is focused on a message of rebirth for Africa. “Placing Door of Hope in this space,” Kassé reflects, “reinforces this idea of hope, of the possibility of transformation, aligning with the spirit of the monument.”
Summing up the creative intention behind the painting, Kassé shares that, “Each element of the canvas is specifically meant to reflect the poetic, albeit paradoxical, hopeful words of Léopold Sédar Senghor” (a poet who was Senegal’s first president, following its independence from under colonialism):
I do not know when it was, I always confuse present and past.
As I mix Death with Life
A bridge of sweetness connects them.
By its very nature, life is a sacred journey of hardship and hope. It is helpful to remember that while Martin Luther King Jr. is best known for his “I Have A Dream” speech, just ten years prior he delivered a quite despairing sermon titled “Unfulfilled Hopes.” King’s life, just like Kassé’s Door of Hope painting, reminds us to never let unfulfilled hope overtake the very power of hope itself. For it is in walking down the passageway of life to and through “the door of hope” that we encounter the promised faithfulness of the Divine Artist, by which we are able to fully live into hope’s infinite possibilities.
Again, my favorite poet, William Blake, perhaps says it best:
It is right it should be so
Man was made for Joy & Woe
And when this we rightly know
Thro the World we safely go
Joy & Woe are woven fine
A Clothing for the soul divine
Under every grief & pine
Runs a joy with silken twine
Having grown up in Senegal myself, returning to her this last year has been like walking through that very door of hope, albeit from the opposite direction, bestowing on me hope infinite.
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About Kalidou Kassé
Born in Diourbel, Senegal, in 1957, and nicknamed “The Brush of the Sahel,” Kalidou Kassé is a celebrated Senegalese artist known for his vibrant and expressive work that capture everyday life in Senegal. His work resonates with bold colors and dynamic compositions, reflecting his cultural roots and contemporary influences. Kassé’s art has gained global acclaim for its exploration of identity, tradition, and modernity in Senegalese society. "I am someone who loves colors. For me, colors mean life," says Kassé.

Kassé’s work has been exhibited around the world and he has received numerous awards. In 2015 he was named among the most influential personalities on the African continent by Le Magazine de l’Afrique. He is also the Founder of the first private visual art school in Senegal, has served as the president of the Senegalese Committee of the International Association of Plastic Arts, and as a delegate for UNESCO. His generosity is reflected through his paintings and his life, as he seeks to further the development of the visual arts in Senegal, as well as humanitarian causes, through both Senegalese and international organizations and associations.
Facebook: @KalidouKasseOfficiel
Watch a video about Kalidou Kassé and his art: