(Born in 1923 in Ivory Coast. Lived and worked in Ivory Coast.)

All of Frédéric Bruly Bouabré's work takes root in a revelatory experience he had on March 11, 1948. “The heavens opened up before my eyes and seven colorful suns described a circle of beauty around their Mother-Sun, I became Cheik Nadro: 'The one who does not forget.'” Since then, Bouabre researched everything from art, poetry, religion, and philosophy searching for a way to preserve and transmit knowledge which led him to the creation of a unique alphabet of 448 monosyllabic pictograms. In the 1970s he began to transfer these thoughts into hundreds of small postcard drawings, using pens and color pencils. These drawings are his repository of all the world knowledge he gathered.

Bouabre’s work has been displayed around the world including in France, Switzerland, the USA, Japan, Portugal, England, Morocco, Ivory Coast, and beyond. His work has also been part of major biennials including the Venice Biennale, Istanbul Biennale, documents, and is collected by institutions such as the MoMA.