He has made it an essential event since assuming the highest office. On December 1st ^, President Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye commemorated the 81st ^anniversary of the Thiaroye massacre. This tragic event saw African soldiers lose their lives under the guns of colonial troops and French gendarmes at the Thiaroye military camp.

A massacre that reportedly claimed the lives of 35 to 70 people, according to the official count. This figure was dismissed out of hand by the authors of the white paper submitted to the Head of State, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who spoke of 300 to 400 deaths. This duty of remembrance had already been undertaken by a Senegalese artist in 1977: Moustapha Wade.

The work, entitled "The Massacre of Thiaroye," is characterized by vivid colors and a layering of faces. In places, bullet impacts can be seen on the bodies of distressed figures.

Beyond paying tribute to the victims of this tragedy, the artist is intimately connected to this episode of history due to the loss of his uncle to settler bullets. A graduate of the Moscow Academy of Fine Arts, the painting had been exhibited in the Russian capital for years before being acquired by a French collector who lived on Gorée Island and has since passed away.

The latter, wishing to part ways with him, approached Moctar Sidibé, a promoter of   The Kucibok platform, designed to structure the African art ecosystem, is where Moctar Sidibé is currently exhibiting his painting of Moustapha Wade, hidden from public view. This is a situation Sidibé hopes to rectify. Valued at 100,000 CFA francs, the painting is reportedly seeking a buyer, but not just anyone.

Its current owner has been taking steps for the past two years to return what he considers to be a piece of heritage to the State. "We have tried contacting several organizations, starting with the Minister of Culture, then the director of Senegalese heritage management who is in the city, but nothing. So today, we are receiving calls from Mali, which is ready to pay us an envelope to give it to them, because Moustapha Wade also spent a lot of time in Mali, so he finds himself in this situation today, and I think that's a shame," warns Moctar Sidibé in the aisles of the 4th edition of Gitex Africa Morocco.

While many African states are working to return artifacts looted from the continent during the colonial era, this young art entrepreneur believes Senegal is making the same mistake by not reclaiming a work that, in his view, is priceless. The state's position is all the more curious given that Moctar Sidibé is offering to return it free of charge. This situation is further complicated by the context of the annual commemoration of the Thiaroye massacre, instituted two years ago by the current regime.

Having passed away, Moustapha Wade is said to have created over 3,000 works. A significant portion of these are in the possession of his family.