Born around 1923 in Zéprégühé, Ivory Coast.
Died in 2014 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, where he lived and worked.
Biographical summary by Frédéric Bruly Bouabré, dated November 2, 1988 : "Yes, my name is Frédéric Bruly Bouabré. I was born around 1923 in Zépréguhé, in the sub-prefecture of Daloa, Republic of Côte d'Ivoire. Being a Negro of purplish aspect, I believe myself from now on to belong to the ‘violet race,’ little known and often confused with the ‘typically black race.’ For me, the ‘seven colors of the rainbow’ influence the whole of humanity. Divine destiny has integrated me into French civilization. From the age of 8, I attended French school for 10 years, from October 1, 1931, to September 1940. My schooling ended at the upper elementary school of Bingerville. Having received only a primary education, I am aware that my ‘cultural foundations’ are not solid. However, my love for ‘French culture,’ which inspired me at the time of my abrupt departure from school, encouraged me to attend forever the ultimate French school of life—one that I will leave only after my death. If today my soul, my spirit—my star, I would say—emits a faint yet perceptible glow in our present foggy universe, I sincerely recognize that I owe this curious and fortunate glow to that school of life.
During the Second World War, I served as a sailor in the French Navy in the West Indies for five years (1941–1945). At the end of the war, after returning to civilian life, I worked for three months as a railway clerk on the Dakar–Niger line in Rufisque, Senegal. After leaving this position in December 1945, I was hired in January 1946 as a clerk in the judicial identification service of the General Security of West Africa, in Dakar. In 1958, I was transferred to the Directorate of Police Security of Côte d'Ivoire. As this service declared itself overstaffed, I was reassigned to the civil service of the then autonomous Republic. The Ministry of the Civil Service subsequently assigned me to the Ministry of the Interior, in the Directorate of Political Affairs in Abidjan.
The management of the French Institute of Black Africa (IFAN), having discovered that I was the inventor of an African alphabet, requested my transfer from the Ministry of the Interior to IFAN in Abidjan in 1958. I remained there until 1973. The Faculty of Letters at the National University of Côte d'Ivoire, having recognized the scientific value and classical significance of my manuscripts, then requested my transfer to the Institute of Ethnosociology in 1973. I remained in this service until my retirement in 1981.
The greatest joy of my life lies in my many children: fifteen Ivorians added to the demographic richness of my beloved country!
Signed,
Frédéric Bruly Bouabré"
The origin of Frédéric Bruly Bouabré’s work stems from a revelatory experience: on March 11, 1948, “the heavens opened before my eyes, and seven colorful suns formed a circle of beauty around their Mother-Sun; I became Cheik Nadro: ‘The one who does not forget.’”
Since then, Bouabré has compiled his research in manuscripts dealing with art, traditions, poetry, tales, religion, aesthetics, and philosophy—revealing himself to be an astonishing thinker, poet, encyclopedist, and creator. Seeking a way to preserve and transmit the knowledge of the Bété people and of the world, he invented a unique alphabet of 448 monosyllabic pictograms—an inventory of sounds capable of transcribing all the languages of the world.
This endeavor earned Bouabré a reputation comparable to that of Champollion and reflects his universal vision: since his revelation, he has sought to unite and pacify humankind. In the 1970s, he began transferring his thoughts into hundreds of small postcard-format drawings, using ballpoint pen and colored pencils. These drawings, gathered under the title Connaissance du Monde (World Knowledge), form an encyclopedia of universal knowledge and experience. For Bouabré, his drawings represent everything that is revealed or concealed—signs, divine thoughts, dreams, myths, science, and traditions—and he viewed his role as an artist as a redemptive calling.
Collections
Contemporary African Art Collection - Jean PIGOZZI Collection, Geneva, Switzerland
Musée National d'Abidjan, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Fond de dotation, Collection agnès b, Paris, France
Fondation François Pinault, Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy
MNAM, Centre Georges Pompidou en dépôt au Musée des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie, Paris, France
Groninger Museum, Groningen, Netherlands
Centro de Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico, Mexico
Galerie Tanya RUMPFF, Haarlem, Netherlands
Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom
Musée d’Art Brut, Lausanne, Switerland
Collection Lambert (LAC), Geneva, Switzerland
Collection Madame et Monsieur David-Weill, Paris, France
Collection Gervane et Matthias Leridon, Paris, France
