Morocco: Africa Seen by its Photographers’ exhibition, a tribute to Mali’s Malick Sidibé

Morocco’s National Museum Foundation starts its 2021-2022 cultural calendar by a photo exhibition dubbed “Africa seen by its photographers”.

The exhibition at the Mohammed VI Museum pays a special tribute to the pioneer of African photography, Malick Sidibé and displays for the first time unpublished photos by the Malian artist.

This artistic event that celebrates the “pope of African photography”, highlights the art of the continent, said Monday in Rabat president of the National Museum Foundation, Mehdi Qotbi, at the opening of the exhibition.

The novelty of the exhibition “Africa seen by its photographers: From Malick Sidibé to today” is that it displays pictures for the first time.

According to the FNM, “this exhibition is a tribute to the Malian artist and to a whole generation of young photographers of the contemporary African scene, who question the future of the African continent”.
Although la Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain has already presented a retrospective devoted to Malick Sidibé, some works of this leading figure in photographic art have not been exhibited.

Speaking on this occasion, the curator of the exhibition Jeanette Zwingenberger stressed that this artistic event excels in its authenticity, with ambitious portraiture that illustrate contemporary, societal, cultural, political and ecological challenges of the African continent.

Zwingenberger, who is also a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA), said that in addition to Sidibé, the exhibition celebrates 23 African artists, including Zanele Muholi, Pieter Hugo, Osvalde Lewat, and Mário Macilau, who give visibility to people facing precariousness of existence and dissolution of identity.