Being the centre of attention in the Bamako nightlife and offering excitement and prestige to any party simply by his presence was not in the cards for Sidibé early in his life. Born in a Fulani village on the southern edges of Sahara, he was goat herding by the age of five in a family where only one child was chosen amongst several siblings to be sent to school. A privilege given to the young Malick. Always drawing, his artistic promise didn’t go unnoticed at primary school and soon enough it reached the local Mayor’s office, who suggested that Sidibé relocated to Bamako to study jewellery making.
In ’55, the principal at the Maison des artisans du Soudan (now Maison des Artisans de Bamako) introduced him to the French photographer, Gerard Guillat, for whom he started by decorating the shop window, cataloguing and organising the day-to-day work in the studio. The work experience would throw Sidibé onto an entirely new journey. Guillat was looking for an apprentice and the young helper didn’t think twice; after all, working alongside Guillat had made him realise that a click of a button was significantly faster than the work of a paintbrush. Within weeks, Sidibé bought his first camera, a Brownie Flash, working daytime under the guidance of his mentor - and evenings out and about in Bamako photographing weddings, birthdays and other private events.
Sidibe’s legacy stretching over five decades continues to play a significant role on the West African art scene, inspiring later photographers, such as
Dorris Haron Kasco and
Alioune Ba, as well as the younger generations of today.
Already a legend within the community of black-and-white photography, it took almost three decades before the rest of the world was enlightened by the West African artists. The inaugural Bamako Biennale in ’94, in which
Malick Sidibé played a vital role, led to his first solo show outside Mali the same year; and as lights were adjusted for the retrospective of
Seydou Keïta in ’97 at Gagosian Gallery in Wooster Street, New York, the spotlight was firmly onto West Africa. The twenty years that followed, Sidibé’s work was widely exhibited in Europe and United States, and is today part of a long list of prestigious collections and museums, including The Guggenheim, MoMA and The Metropolitan, New York; The Art Institute of Chicago; SFMoMA in San Francisco; and The National Portrait Gallery, London. His oeuvre was the subject of numerous books, such as ‘Mali Twist’ released by Fondation Cartier in 2017, and during his lifetime he became the most decorated African photographer, achieving the Hasselblad Foundation Award (2003), Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale (2007), and World Press Photo (2010). Sidibé’s career started and ended in his beloved Bamako as he passed away in 2016.