New spot of committed art unlocked:  the BNP Paribas Foundation unveils a portrait of Diariata N’Diaye in the Angers train station

Showcasing those who take action

Since 1984, the BNP Paribas Foundation has been supporting and promoting talented individuals who spearhead innovative projects with a strong social, environmental, and cultural impact.

To mark the Foundation’s 40th anniversary, we have chosen to create a one-of-a-kind artistic project: a series of large-scale urban murals honouring the everyday heroes that the Foundation supports. Over the coming months, larger-than-life portraits captivatingly captured by street artists will be displayed on the walls of towns and cities across France, celebrating the commitment of these inspiring changemakers.

Next stop: Angers station!

Just a few weeks after the inauguration of the street art portrait of Zahia Ziouani in Pantin in greater Paris, our second portrait has been unveiled at the Angers Saint-Laud train station in northwestern France. The mural depicts Diariata N’Diaye, an ‘artivist’ (artist and activist) working to combat gender-based and sexual violence, also painted by muralist Sébastien Bouchard.

Why have we chosen a train station in the region of Pays de la Loire?

• In 2015, Diariata N’Diaye founded Resonantes, based in Nantes (in the region of Pays de la Loire). The non-profit develops and distributes tailored tools aimed at individuals and professional services to raise awareness about violence, inform the public, and help victims (particularly young people aged 15–25). Well before the international #MeToo movement to speak out about sexual violence, the non-profit created App-Elles®, the first mobile app to help women victims of violence, available worldwide (today it has 160,000 users in 15 countries). The BNP Paribas Foundation has been supporting Resonantes since 2021.

When faced with violence, we don’t all have the same options: we’re working to give every victim the same weapons to escape it. But we don’t just want to offer solutions to victims of violence; to reduce it, we must work on prevention, raise awareness, explain what someone has or doesn’t have the right to do. If we can intervene very rapidly to help victims of violence, we avoid leaving them on a continuum that can lead to staying in a violent situation or becoming a perpetrator.

• ’Sébastien Bouchard, a muralist and freelance artistic director of exhibitions and urban projects, was born in Nantes and continues to live and work there. What makes his work unique? The play of light on faces, which he renders using very fine brushes in an approach that could be likened to pointillism. Whether on the street or on canvas, Sébastien Bouchard reinterprets portraiture, encouraging the viewer to question the relationship between human beings and their natural and cultural environment. In his own style, he tries to transcend the divide between popular and high art. He founded the muralist collective Label Rue in Nantes and is contributing to transforming public spaces into open-air galleries in Europe, the United States and Africa.

Train connexion between art and engagement

Made possible by a partnership with the French organisation that oversees rail stations (SNCF Gares et Connexions), this mural is a potent means of communication: another way for the Foundation to give power to those who take action, through the power of media visibility.

Like any work of art, a text accompanies the 16-square-metre mural and presents the backgrounds of Diariata N’Diaye and Sébastien Bouchard. Until your next visit to the Angers Saint-Laud station, you can find out more about Diariata and Sébastien here:

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