Born Apollinaire Guidimbaye in Massyéna, a small town southeast of N'Djamena, Doff grew up in a loving family with eleven siblings. From a very young age, he was exposed to art—his mother was a craft dyer, and his older brother was a painter. As a child, he created toys from tin cans and dismantled the toys given to him to build other objects. Passionate about mechanics, he became an "expert" in metal assembly by watching his uncle work in his car repair shop. At the age of 15, when he decided not to continue his studies, another uncle gave him a scroll saw. He began marquetry, unknowingly embarking on his artistic path and acquiring skills that he still uses today.
Doff later ventured into other artistic disciplines, including painting and set design. At one point, he was nicknamed "Doff"—meaning "the crazy one" in Wolof—by his friends, who couldn't understand why he scoured junkyards for materials to use in his creations. He embraced this name. The decisive moment came in 2018 when he was selected as a young creative talent to participate in the 5-day intensive workshop of the AtWork Tour "I Had a Dream" by the Moleskine Foundation, led by writer, independent curator, and art critic Simon Njami. "I Had a Dream" was a "call to action here and now," and this call resonated deeply with Doff.
Doff creates his works with non-traditional artistic materials and found objects: circuit boards, discarded pieces of fabric, steel wires recovered from burned tires, paxalu* (a bituminous waterproofing material he first saw on a beach in Ivory Coast in 2019), bullet casings found in shooting fields, and more.
DOFF’s work consists of several techniques, where he heats, glues, sometimes sculpts, molds, scrapes, or carves the material to create slender figures that also express the finesse of mind that characterizes him. His tools blend between the blowtorch, hammer, newspaper, and/or any other eclectic object he encounters along his path. An artist who is unrestrained, as he lets himself be carried by the wind of experimentation and the often steep paths of art.
Through these materials, Doff addresses the consequences of ecological damage, such as pollution and drought, as well as the suffering caused by wars and massacres.
Doff has acquired all the skills he possesses on his own. He is a true self-taught artist, a visual artist, and set designer. His courage, determination, ingenuity, and originality are at the core of his work. Doff is a mentor to young people—encouraging them to create with recycled materials while educating them on the importance of protecting the environment. He has organized several workshops in local schools in N'Djamena and opens his studio to aspiring artists. He founded Knock on Art, an association aimed at promoting contemporary African art in Chad, and is currently working on Fondasia, a festival dedicated to contemporary art to be held in N'Djamena.
Doff has participated in artist residencies in Ivory Coast, Gabon, and France. He has exhibited in Bordeaux, Dakar, Paris, N'Djamena, Washington DC, and Zürich, as well as at the Dak'Art Biennale, the Douala Art Fair, and AKAA (the Art & Design Fair) in Paris.
*Paxalu (alu as a diminutive for aluminum) or calandrite is a material used for waterproofing flat or terrace roofs. It is produced as a self-protected elastomeric bitumen waterproofing sheet, covered with an aluminum layer that compensates for expansion.
