Malick
Sidibé

Malick Sidibé

was born in Soloba, Mali in 1936.
He was first a shepherd, cattle herder, and farmer. he later pursued formal training in art and jewelry-making at the School of Sudanese Artisans (now the National Institute of Arts of Bamako) in Bamako.

In 1955, he joined the “Photo Service” studio of Gérard Guillat-Guignard, where he learned photography. He opened his first studio in 1958.

In 1962, he opened his own studio in Bamako, in the Bagadadji district, where he would remain all his life. He initially specialized in reportage photography, especially at youth parties in the Malian capital. In the 1970s, he later focused on mischievous portrait photography in his studio.

The first African Photography Encounters in Bamako in 1994 helped Malick Sidibé gain wider recognition. He then exhibited in galleries in Europe (such as the Fondation Cartier in Paris), the United States, and Japan.

In 2003, Malick Sidibé received the international prize from the Hasselblad Foundation. He was the first African to receive this award.
On June 10, 2007, in recognition of his career, he received the prestigious Golden Lion honorary award at the 52nd Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art.

On June 23, 2009, he won the Photo España Baume & Mercier Award for his portrait work and, that same year, the World Press Photo Award in the Arts and Entertainment category. The 2016 Rencontres d’Arles paid tribute to him in the exhibition “Swinging Bamako,” part of the “Africa Pop” series.
He passed away on April 14, 2016, in Bamako.

Bel Œil has always been moved by Malick Sidibé’s visual testimony — his poetic eye and the playful way he captured his contemporaries.

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