BUALA

Was born in  Soloba (1936), Mali, but lives and works in Bamako. Studied drawing and jewelry design. In 1962 opens his own photography studio. Won a several prizes, as the Photo España Baume & Mercier (2009); the prize from the New York International Photography Center (2008); and the Gold Lion in the Venice Bienal (2007).

Among his main solo exhibitions are: Chemises, Foam Fotografie Museum, Amsterdam (2008); Malick Sidibé, Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, Paris (2004); Malick Sidibé, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2001); Malick Sidibé, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (1999).

In his collective exhibitions are: “Think with the Senses Feel with the Mind”, 52ª Venice Bienal  (2007); “The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa, 1945 – 1994″, P.S.1, New York (2001); “Malick Sidibé/Seydou Keita”, 6ª International Istanbul Biennial (1999); “Premières Recontres de la Photographie Africaine”, Bamako, Mali (1994).

His portraits and documental photographies are testimony of postcolonial cultural and social development in Mali. Today, Sidibé is considered the most important african photographer alive.