Younousse Sèye

Younousse Sèye (born 1940) is a Senegalese artist, poet, and actress. Considered Senegal's first woman painter, She began painting as a teenager, receiving no formal training. However, she learned some techniques from her mother, who was a fabric-dyer. She has worked on public commissions for the offices of the Organisation of African Unity in Ethiopia and Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport in Dakar, among others. While she is also known for her marble carving, she is best known for her "clever and sustained use" of these shells, exploring their persistent symbolic weight as part of a pan-African visual vocabulary, symbolizing everything from currency to womanhood. Her work frequently deals with gender, Early in her career, she was often the only woman included in major exhibitions.

Acting Sèye is also an actress, although she received no formal training in acting. She began acting in films as a young woman, going on to play several strong female roles.

Decades later, in 2000, she collaborated again with Sembène, playing the lead role in Faat Kiné under the stage name Venus Seye.