Biennale / Event Supplements / Dakar Biennale 2026 / What to See
Dak’Art profile · Dakar city page · Free to read · Updated October 6, 2026
Dakar Biennale · Dakar · November 19 to December 19, 2026
A closed courthouse at the tip of the Plateau, a round museum by the station, a state gallery near the Kermel market, and a city of galleries around them. Hours and prices are given where they exist, and gaps are named.
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The three official venues
The 16th Dakar Biennale (Dak’Art) runs from November 19 to December 19, 2026, in three state buildings on the Plateau, the old centre of the city. The main one is a courthouse that has not heard a case since 1992. As of October 6, 2026, the organizer had published no opening hours, ticket prices or access notes for any of the three: its pages for the Ancien Palais de Justice and the Galerie nationale carry a placeholder sentence, and its Musée des Civilisations noires page a heading and an image. This guide gives each building’s ordinary hours where a source exists. Confirm with the secretariat before setting out: 19, Avenue Hassan II, +221 33 823 09 18, info@biennaledakar.org.
The former courthouse stands at Cap Manuel, the southern tip of the Plateau. The state news agency APS reported on September 25 that it will hold both the international exhibition and the design section: 54 selected proposals in the first, 21 in the second. The lists are on The Exhibitions and The Artists & Designers.
The building was inaugurated in 1958 by Pierre Messmer, then High Commissioner of French West Africa, according to Jeune Afrique. A local culture site, Sunuculture, names the architects as Daniel Badani and Pierre Roux-Dorlut, gives 1957 as the year of construction and dates the inauguration to December 26, 1958. Unconfirmed Both sources agree on how its first life ended: the court moved out in 1992, after cracks raised fears that the structure would collapse.
In 2016 the Dak’Art organizers obtained it from the authorities as their main exhibition site, Jeune Afrique states, and DakArtNews agrees that the biennale has shown there since 2016, having used the CICES fairground before. That makes 2018 its second biennale, not its first. In early 2017 President Macky Sall formally allocated the building to the Ministry of Culture; Host City follows that story.
Seneplus, summarizing a New York Times report of 2024, describes about 4,000 square metres of exhibition space with green and white tilework. Unconfirmed Before each edition the building receives a short refit and no more. In May 2022, two weeks before opening, APS described repainting in white, electrical work, wood panelling and planting in a courtyard.
Fitting-out work was reported as under way in early October 2026 by allAfrica, in an article that gives no contractor, cost or completion date. Unconfirmed One of the edition’s five curatorial lines is titled Reverdir l’ancien palais de justice (to make the old courthouse green again). The official communiqué of October 4 does not say what that will mean on the ground: planting, a garden or a scenography.
A second, much bigger project has hung over the site for years, and it is private. The Paris firm Wilmotte & Associés lists a “Palais des Arts” for a client named Ascent Promotion. On the firm’s page the courthouse becomes a 9,000-square-metre arts palace inside a 73,800-square-metre complex with 56,700 square metres of housing, an 8,100-square-metre hotel, a conference hall, offices and a restaurant. The year given is 2027. A rival scheme exists on paper: AWM Architectes Urbanistes shows a 2023 competition entry for the same plot, with the courthouse restored beside a sculpture garden, a literary café, hotels and housing.
A permanent Palais des Arts by 2027 was also reported in 2024, in the same Seneplus summary. Unconfirmed No source read for this guide states that construction of either scheme has begun, or names the public body behind it. What can be said is narrower: a refit for the biennale is reported, and a conversion has been planned for years.
None was published as of October 6, 2026. The Seneplus summary has a visitor describing admission in 2024 as free, which is no guide to 2026. Unconfirmed No source read gives a bus line, a parking note or a walking route to Cap Manuel. The practical page covers taxis and ride-hailing, and the Guide will carry the hours when the organizer posts them.
The second venue is the round museum facing the railway station. It opened on December 6, 2018, and Au-Senegal’s listing gives its address as Autoroute prolongée x Place de la Gare: about 15,000 square metres on four levels, nearly 5,000 of them exhibition space, on a circular plan drawn from traditional housing. The museum hosted the official launch of this edition on September 24, 2026. What it will show for the biennale has not been announced. In 2022 it held the national pavilions, by the organizer’s press kit of that year; in 2024, part of the official exhibition and the guest-country pavilion, APS reported.
Its ordinary hours are Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 7 pm, closed Monday, by Petit Futé’s 2026 listing and SénéGuide. On price the two disagree. Petit Futé gives adults from 3,000 CFA francs and guided visits from 5,000. SénéGuide gives a starting price of 500 CFA francs and says payment is in cash only. Unconfirmed No official price list was found, so treat neither figure as settled and call the museum. Three sources print the number as +221 33 889 11 80; Au-Senegal prints 33 883 11 80.
“The Museum of Black Civilizations is not an ethnographic museum, it is not an anthropological museum, it is not a chromatic museum - it is a museum of insubordination”
— Hamady Bocoum, first director of the Musée des Civilisations noires, in JusticeInfo, February 15, 2022
The third venue shares an address with the biennale’s own office: 19, Avenue Hassan II, by its Partcours page. It is the state gallery for the visual arts, founded in 1983. Petit Futé’s 2026 listing gives Monday to Saturday, 9 am to 6 pm, free admission, near the Kermel market. Those are its ordinary terms; biennale hours were not published. For this edition it holds the tribute to the artist Abdoulaye Niokhor Bob, known as Ngoor (1973–2017), titled La Sagesse de l’Epreuve; see the tributes.
Museums and monuments
Each entry gives the address, hours and price found, with the source and its date. All pages were read on October 6, 2026. None of these institutions had published a programme for November and December. The Gorée museums are under Gorée.
Plateau
Fann
Mamelles, Ouakam
Corniche Ouest, Fann
Route de l’Aéroport
Plateau
The statue on the Mamelles was unveiled on April 3, 2010, to a design by Pierre Goudiaby Atepa, and built by the North Korean firm Mansudae Overseas Projects at a cost put at US$27 million, by Wikipedia’s account, which cites BBC and France 24 reports of the time. Unconfirmed The same account lists what the unveiling set off: protests at the cost during an economic crisis, objections from imams to the semi-nude figures, criticism of the choice of builder, and anger at President Abdoulaye Wade’s claim to 35 percent of the revenue as author of the idea. The longer story is on Dakar Art Scene.
| Place | Hours | Closed | Admission | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ancien Palais de Justice | Not published | Not published | Not published | Biennale de Dakar |
| Musée des Civilisations noires | 10 am to 7 pm | Mon | From 3,000 or from 500 | Petit Futé; SénéGuide |
| Galerie nationale d’art | 9 am to 6 pm | Sun | Free | Petit Futé |
| Musée Théodore Monod | 9 am to 5 pm | Mon, holidays | 5,000; resident 2,000 | Museum |
| Musée Senghor | 10 am to 12 noon, 3 to 5 pm | Sun | 2,000 | Lepetitjournal.com |
| Monument de la Renaissance africaine | 9 am to 7:45 pm | None listed | 6,500; resident 1,000 | Au-Senegal |
| Musée de la Femme | 10 am to 6:30 pm | Mon | Free or 1,000 | Museum; Au-Senegal |
| Maison des Esclaves, Gorée | Timed visits | Mon | 1,500; resident 500 | Au-Senegal |
| Musée historique, Gorée | 10:30 am to 4:30 pm | Mon | 3,000; resident 1,500 | Au-Senegal |
Art spaces and galleries
The galleries matter most in a biennale year, because the OFF, the independent programme that runs beside the official one, is held largely in them. Its 2026 list was not published as of October 6, and most galleries had not announced a show for November and December. Several addresses below come from Partcours pages that still showed an earlier edition, so hours taken from them need a phone call. The scene behind these spaces is on Dakar Art Scene.
One dated OFF listing existed elsewhere on October 6. Parallax-SN’s “OFF - Biennale de Dakar” page held a single entry: Entre les doigts : l’invisible, by Djibril Coulibaly, at La Maison des Arts, November 19 to December 26, with no address. Unconfirmed What the OFF is, and how it grew, is on The Exhibitions; new listings will be logged on Live.
“C’est plus profond qu’un simple festival d’art, parce que ça va intéresser le tissu urbain, les gens dans leur quotidien, leurs plaisirs et difficultés de vivre dans une ville comme Dakar.”
— Mauro Petroni, co-founder of Partcours, in Le Quotidien, December 4, 2021. In English: It goes deeper than a simple art festival, because it reaches the fabric of the city, people in their daily lives, the pleasures and the difficulties of living in a city like Dakar.Partcours 2026
Partcours is the galleries’ own annual circuit, and in 2026 it falls wholly inside the biennale. The Partcours site gives the 15th edition as November 23 to December 13, 2026, and labels it “Work in progress”. It was started in 2012 by Kouoh and Petroni, as Lepetitjournal.com recounts, and its site describes the events as free and open to all.
The 2025 openings, day by day, are on Nights.
Free, from the street
Much of what Dakar has to show costs nothing and has no door.
The association Yataal Art, founded in 2010 and based at Rue 25 x 2 bis, treats the Médina as an open-air museum. Over about ten years more than 100 street artists have painted murals on the district’s façades, by its Partcours page. Guided walks have been offered in past years; none was announced for 2026 as of October 6. The contact given is Mamadou Boye Diallo, known as “Patin”, on +221 77 181 59 69.
The second Meeting of Styles Senegal runs from October 16 to 26, 2026, in Yeumbeul Sud and Yeumbeul Nord: 150 artists and more than 2,500 square metres of wall, organized by the Just Paint collective. It ends before the biennale opens. The walls stay.
In 2022 the biennale placed monumental works along the Corniche Ouest, between the Directorate of Customs and the Porte Mermoz, under the Wolof title Doxantu (a stroll), by the organizer’s press kit. The kit says nothing about permanence, and no source read establishes which works are still in place. This guide promises none. Au-Senegal puts the best walking hours at 6 to 9 am and 5 to 8 pm. After dark the advice changes: the US State Department reports regular robberies there. See safety.
For reverse-glass painting, sous-verre, the only leads found in Dakar are the studio visits at the Village des Arts and Galerie Antenna, whose last listed show was on the genre. The art is explained on Dakar Art Scene.
Gorée
Gorée lies 2.5 kilometres off the port, 20 minutes by ferry, by Au-Senegal’s ferry page. The island is car-free and covers 28 hectares, as Lonely Planet described it in 2018. It has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1978. UNESCO’s listing describes it as the largest slave-trading centre on the African coast between the 15th and 19th centuries, a description that some historians dispute, as set out below.
The house stands on Rue Saint-Germain. Au-Senegal dates it to 1776; Lonely Planet to the 1780s. It is open every day except Monday, by timed visit; the times are not given, and the house’s own visiting page could not be read. Admission is 1,500 CFA francs for non-residents, 500 for residents and 250 for students, with a guided visit at 1,000 per person.
The house’s long-time curator, Boubacar Joseph Ndiaye (1922–2009), presented it as a point of departure for more than a million captives, while historians led by Philip Curtin have argued that Gorée’s share of the trade was a few hundred people a year and that the house was a merchant’s home, so that its weight is as a memorial more than as a documented place of embarkation. That sentence rests on Wikipedia’s summary; the scholarship behind it was not opened for this guide. Unconfirmed
At the island’s northern point, in the former Fort d’Estrées, the historical museum has eleven rooms and about 500 objects, from prehistory to independence. Hours are Tuesday to Sunday, 10:30 am to 4:30 pm. Non-residents pay 3,000 CFA francs, residents 1,500, children up to 15 and students 500, by Au-Senegal’s listing of September 17, 2025; the museum’s own page shows the same prices.
Gorée has held several OFF exhibitions at each edition, Artforum noted in 2024. Nothing was confirmed for 2026 as of October 6.
The boat, the Boubacar Joseph Ndiaye, carries 450 and is run by the port authority. There is no booking: tickets are bought at the terminal, where a municipal tax of 500 CFA francs per person is also paid before boarding. Canada’s advisory warns of pickpockets there.
From Monday to Saturday, Au-Senegal’s transcription of the timetable (updated November 18, 2025) has boats leaving Dakar at 6:15, 7:30, 10:00 and 11:00 am, then 12:30, 2:30, 4:00, 5:00 (not Saturday), 6:30, 8:00 and 10:30 pm. Boats leave Gorée at 6:45, 8:00 and 10:30 am, then 12 noon, 2:00, 3:00, 4:30, 6:00 (not Saturday), 7:00, 8:30 and 11:00 pm. Sundays and public holidays follow a different timetable, with a first boat from Dakar at 7:00 am. The port’s own page could not be read, so check times on the day.
| Passenger | Adult | Child | Page and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-resident | 6,000 | 3,000 | Ferry page, updated November 18, 2025 |
| Non-resident, older tariff | 5,200 | 2,700 | Ferry overview, modified September 16, 2026 |
| Resident of Africa | 3,500 | 2,000 | Ferry page, updated November 18, 2025 |
| Senegalese national | 1,500 | 500 | Ferry page, updated November 18, 2025 |
The two non-resident figures conflict. The page that still shows 5,200 was modified more recently, but the figure goes back at least to 2013, when Seneplus reported it. Expect 6,000 and confirm with the port on (221) 33 849 79 61.
Three one-day routes
These routes use only places with an address and hours in a source. Travel times between districts were not verified: no published source gives them and none was measured for this guide, so no minutes are printed. Biennale hours at the Ancien Palais de Justice are unknown, so it is a block to be fitted once they are published.
On foot and by short taxi. Wednesday to Friday, when every stop is listed as open; on Saturday check TRAMES.
Tuesday to Saturday.
Tuesday to Friday only. Gorée’s museums close on Monday and RAW Material Company closes at weekends.
A fourth day belongs to the OFF, once its list exists. The calendar on the Guide and the Dakar guide on My Biennale will carry it.
The OFF outside Dakar and short trips
The OFF does not stop at the city limits. APS reported on September 25 that more than 400 OFF events are expected across Senegal and in the diaspora. The official 2026 list was not published as of October 6, and the organizer’s OFF page returned an error. What follows is a short list of leads.
The island of Saint-Louis, at the mouth of the Senegal River, has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2000; it was the capital of Senegal from 1872 to 1957. Two leads exist, both for November 26 to 28, 2026. An Instagram post has the Institut français inviting women artists to apply for an exhibition there, framed as part of the OFF. Unconfirmed Parallax-SN lists the second Salon International Cinéma & Photographie de Saint-Louis for the same dates. Unconfirmed The city also has a Musée du Sous-verre, a site of the Musée de la Photographie; its page would not load, so no hours are given. Unconfirmed
Intercity transport from Dakar is put at 4,000 to 6,000 CFA francs by Senego’s fare list. Unconfirmed No published travel time was found. Canada’s advisory says to avoid driving between cities at night.
The Manufactures sénégalaises des arts décoratifs, the national tapestry workshop set up at Senghor’s initiative, was founded on December 4, 1966, by Wikipedia’s account. Unconfirmed The 2022 biennale listed it among its additional venues, by that year’s press kit. Nothing was found for 2026, and neither an address nor visiting hours could be confirmed, so arrange a visit before going. Senego puts the fare from Dakar at 1,500 to 2,500 CFA francs. Unconfirmed
Fares, the train and more trips are under short trips on the practical page.
Biennale is an independent publication, not affiliated with the Dakar Biennale or with any venue named here. Hours and prices change; confirm with each venue.
Sources. Hours, prices and addresses were read on October 6, 2026, against each institution’s own pages where one could be opened, otherwise against the listing named beside the figure. Main sources: the Biennale de Dakar’s venue pages, its communiqué of October 4, 2026 and its 2022 press kit; APS; Jeune Afrique; Wilmotte & Associés; the Musée Théodore Monod; the Musée de la Femme Henriette-Bathily; Partcours; Selebe Yoon; OH Gallery; Galerie Cécile Fakhoury; Au-Senegal; Petit Futé; Parallax-SN; UNESCO. Items marked Unconfirmed rest on a single non-official source or on a page that could not be opened in full. Corrections: contact@biennale.nyc.