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Malick Sidib茅: Mali鈥檚 star photographer

Malick Sidib茅's most famous photographs show black and white scenes of young people partying in the capital Bamako in 1960.

The Malian photographer, Malick Sidib茅, is one of Africa鈥檚 most celebrated artists.

His most famous photographs show black and white scenes of young people partying in the capital Bamako in the joyful, confident era after Mali鈥檚 independence from France in 1960.

In the 1990s, a chance encounter with a French curator brought Sidib茅鈥檚 work international acclaim.

The wider world had been used to seeing a narrow range of images from Africa, so when Sidib茅鈥檚 work went on show in Western galleries, audiences were stunned by the exuberant world they revealed.

In 2022, Manthia Diawara, the Malian filmmaker and professor at New York University, who knew Malick when he was a roving nightlife photographer spoke, to Viv Jones.

(Photo: Danser le Twist, 1963 by Malick Sidib茅. Credit: Galerie MAGNIN-A, Paris)

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