Malick Sidibé 1936 - 2016

The photographic artist Malick Sidibé was born in Soloba (Mali) in 1935 or 1936 and, after training as a jeweller, completed his studies in painting at the École des Artisans Soudanais (now the Institut National des Arts) in Bamako in 1955. In the same year, he began an apprenticeship in the shop of the French photographer Gérard Guillat, deepening his interest and skills in all aspects of photography. From 1957, he documented life in Bamako in his photographs and opened up his own studio a year later.

Working mainly in black and white, he photographed youth culture in clubs, at sporting events and on the banks of the Niger River, capturing the gradual westernisation of Mali, a country in transition from a colony to an independent country (from 1960). His best-known works depict the burgeoning pop culture and nightlife of Bamako or show young people and their clothing style. The teenagers and young adults were specifically staged for this purpose, both alone and in groups.

They were photographed in elegant studio portraits, while the patterned background either matched or deliberately broke with the outfits and poses worn by the subjects. Sidibé is said to create dramatic images of individuals, intent on showcasing their postcolonial middle-class identities, often through exaggerated and idealised versions of these individuals.

In the 1990s, the European art critic André Magnin published photographs by Sidibé and in 1998 released a monograph on the artist, which triggered various exhibitions in Europe, the USA and Japan. In 2003, Sidibé received the Hasselblad Foundation International Award for Photography and in 2007, he was the first photographer and African ever to receive the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the 52nd Venice Biennale. Malick Sidibé died in Bamako on 14.04.2016 at the age of 80 and is one of the most important contemporary photographers in both Mali and Africa.