The award-winning painter, draftsman, author and researcher based in the Republic of Benin, Sanda Amadou reveals his journey into arts and the constant engagement with pastoral nomadism in his works in an interview with Yinka Olatunbosun.
The first time of meeting Sanda Amadou was at the famous ‘Abegi,’ the lush recreational space inside the premises of the National Theatre, Iganmu a couple of years ago. But to save travel time this time, the conversation began on Facebook messenger and wound up on a WhatsApp call. Despite the fluctuating network, the conversation was quite robust. Over the years, Amadou has grown from being an artist trying to break through the Nigerian market to an art scholar.
Born in 1978 in a Fulani community in Northern Benin, Amadou holds a PhD in socio-linguistics from the University of Ghana, Accra. Like most artists in Benin, he received his art education through residencies and masters’ workshops. Starting off his career as a teacher and writer, the path towards becoming an artist was not an easy one considering his Fulani roots.
“I was born in Republic of Benin where my father hails from but my mother is from Katsina state, Nigeria. I think my father went to Katsina and married her and they came down to Benin. I was born in Benin but my father didn’t take me to school. I just followed children who were enrolled in school. My father didn’t want to send me to school. For him, it is not important for a Fulani boy to go to school. Every morning, I would follow students to go to the school, but if I reach the school, the children would chase me away because I didn’t have a uniform.”
With dogged determination, he trudged on with his mother’s backing. His zeal for learning was soon noticed by others as he would later recount.
The principal found out that I wanted to go to school so he talked to my father to allow me go to school. My father said no; that it is not important for a Fulani boy to go to school. It was my mother that insisted that I should go to school. But then he said that he would not pay the school fees. So my mother paid the school fees. Later, the principal continued to pay my school fees.’’
As a young Fulani boy, he was taught much about the Fulani culture by his father. That informal education would later become a rich repository of knowledge from which draws messages and motifs for his works as an artist. Amadou recalled how his father who was against secular education himself became his teacher, unwittingly.
“I went to see the cattle during the vacation. But my father is a great storyteller. Most of the things I learnt about the Fulani culture I learnt from him. He taught me a lot of things about the Fulani and the techniques of grazing.”
To develop a career as an artist was quite tough in Benin because the cultural scene in Lagos, Nigeria is more promising. Hence, he came to Lagos and worked with a number of galleries for some years. Benin is a small country with no art school. Amadou saw Lagos as a dream place for his plastic arts. But his engagement with the theme of Fulani nomads worked against him in Nigeria.
Amadou is a now recognised artist having participated in many solo and collective exhibitions in Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal, Dubai, Germany, the Netherlands, France and the US. Also, he has been featured at major international art fairs such as World Art Dubai, ARTX Lagos and AKAA Paris (2021 and 2022).
Expectedly, the central themes that he addresses through his works relate to pastoral nomadism as well as the difficulties, the sorrows, and the joys of the Fulani nomads. Amadou often depicts ropes, vines, leaf branches, and cattle in his compositions, as they are symbolic of the daily life of the nomadic Fulani herders. While the idea of pastoral nomadism is largely frowned upon in his neighbouring country, Nigeria because of the infiltration of criminal elements, he explained further the reason why the concept is a celebrated one in his body of works.
First of all, pastoral nomadism is a philosophy. It is not just about cattle grazing. The Fulani people naturally like to travel even if they don’t have cattle. Even if there is grass, water and there is no illness, still the Fulani people will travel. They love travelling and interacting with other cultures. And that is the interesting thing about nomadism: to interact and exchange cultures. The second thing is to feed the cattle; to find a good grazing land. I think if the Fulani does not travel, his life will not make any sense. But that is their essence. Travelling is part of education. If you don’t travel, you become stagnant. You will stay in one place.’’
Having established that, Amadou explained that the crime reported in Nigeria is quite peculiar, adding that Fulanis exist in other parts of Africa including Mali, Guinea, Senegal, Niger and Mauritania. Also called Peul or Fulbe, they are primarily muslim. History had it that they came to West Africa from the North as nomadic herders and through systematic cultural integration, acceptance and study of Islamic religion and warfare.
Amadou debunked the misconception that the Fulanis are propagators of crime as many believe in Nigeria.
“I know what is happening in Nigeria but I know there had been reports of Fulani herdsmen involved in bombing and kidnapping. But I don’t think it has anything to do with pastoral nomadism. I think it has something to do with politics. Most of the Fulani that had been arrested were not with cattle.’’
Navigating away from the difficult but necessary conversation, the focus shifting to the form and structure of his works that had toured international shows. His works seem to show a rigorous geometry and form complex architectures, which are sometimes fragile. His lines, circles, triangles and quadrilaterals, semi-mathematical figures connect Fulani symbols of natural life with ropes at its base. His incredible pieces allow the viewer to glimpse an unreal essence.
His recent shows include ‘Sacred Places’ and ‘The Unexpected Universe’ at AKAA Paris during the OpenArtExchange and Schiedam, the Netherlands, respectively. In 2018, his works were shown at the Museum of African Diaspora, San Francisco, USA at the 2018 ‘Beyond the Infinite’ exhibition. The same year, he showcased his works in Cologne, Germany at the John Herman’s Gallery with the show titled “Univers inattendus” amongst others.
One thing he loves about being an artist in the Republic of Benin is government support. The government would buy works from artists and provide grants to empower emerging artists.
When Amadou is not doing studio work, he is teaching or writing research materials on visual arts. And at his leisure, he enjoys quality time with his extended family.

Sacrifice, a painting by Sanda Amodou
I must thank you for the efforts you have put in penning this site. I really hope to view the same high-grade blog posts by you in the future as well. In fact, your creative writing abilities has encouraged me to get my very own website now 😉
Thanks for the feedback. Enjoy your day.
Nice post. I learn something new and challenging on websites I stumbleupon on a daily basis. Its always exciting to read articles from other writers and use something from their sites.
Thank you for your kind feedback.
I would like to thank you for the efforts youve put in writing this blog. I am hoping to see the same high-grade content by you later on as well. In fact, your creative writing abilities has motivated me to get my own website now 😉
Thanks so much for the feedback.
Pretty! This has been a really wonderful post. Many thanks for providing these details.
You are welcome. Thanks for reading.