Frederic bruly Bouabre

Connaissance du Monde (Knowledge of the World)

iO Arts Center, a New York art institution, presents Frédéric Bruly Bouabré: Connaissance du Monde, an exhibition of more than 100 works by the Ivorian artist Frédéric Bruly Bouabré (1923–2014). The exhibition includes 20 works from Alphabet Bété shown in 'Song E Yoon: Songs Across Time', an official Collateral Event of the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia in 2026. Bringing these works together in Palisades, the exhibition examines Bouabré’s invention of a writing system alongside his sustained practice of recording observations through drawing and text.

Born into the Bété community in Côte d’Ivoire, Bouabré developed a script to transcribe his language and preserve knowledge transmitted orally. Although commonly called an alphabet, his system is a syllabary: each sign represents a syllable rather than an individual consonant or vowel. Generally described as comprising 448 signs, it connects spoken sounds…