Abdoulaye Guissé lived in Berlin from 1986 to 2003. In 2003, he returned to Senegal and established the Mélentane Gallery in Kafountine, a cultural center where he organized the Mélentane Festival and the Off de Kafountine Biennale at the Melentane Gallery, featuring regional and international artists.
Abdoulaye Guissé's work explores his thoughts on his environment and his affection for people without distinction, and he was certainly one of the most committed African artists in Berlin during his time. His work in Berlin included educational work in various projects at schools and other social institutions.
Following the success of the exhibition 'Soleil d'Afrique' in 1994 at the Berlin gallery Querformat, he participated in many other group exhibitions, including with Wolf Vostell and Christo – the artist who wrapped the Reichstag – at the Berliner Zeitung gallery in 1995. In 1995, Abdoulaye Guissé participated in Clementine Deliss's project 'Metronom 3 in Berlin,' which was presented as part of DOCUMENTA X in Kassel, and in 1997, he participated in the international project 'BACK-GROUND' with 16 European and African artists. The project was realized by QUARTS e.V. Berlin in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Dakar and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Dakar as part of the Dak'Art Biennale.
Abdoulaye Guissé's works from recent years demonstrate a clear development from the dissolution of the strongly figurative forms of the early 1990s to strongly surface-emphasized, more abstract applications of paint, which only hint at the figurative reference. This liberation from form is partly accompanied by a liberation from surface, as he sometimes gives his works a third dimension by adding and integrating 'found objects' that lend the painting an object-like character.
His works are 'African,' without the viewer being able to say what is actually African about these paintings. Is it the color scheme, which is often unusual to European eyes, or is it more the suggestion of an archaic formal language that repeatedly resonates?
Abdoulaye Guissé draws his themes from the world he encounters every day: his encounters with people in the big city of Berlin, his engagement with urban traffic, but also the world of a farm in the countryside – these impressions are often interwoven with the myths of his homeland. He sees the parallels between the worlds and the people of Africa and Europe and places them at the center of his feelings.
Abdoulaye Guissé has been committed for years to commemorating the Joola disaster on September 26, 2002, initiating events and art projects to commemorate this tragedy. The ship was launched in 1990 at a German shipyard and subsequently connected the city of Ziguinchor in the Casamance province with Dakar. Nearly 2,000 people died in the sinking of this "Titanic of Africa" in 2002. Only 64 survived the accident, including a single woman. The trauma of the sinking was repressed in Senegal.
After many years, a memorial site for the victims of the disaster is being built in Ziguinchor. The building serves as both a memorial and a museum. From 2019-2024 Abdoulaye Guissé was ambassador of l’ANFVR-JOOLA
The artist now lives in the Miltenberg district of Lower Franconia and in Kafountine in the Casamance region of southern Senegal. He has thus become a commuter between continents and cultures.