Abdoulaye Konaté: Sambadio

This solo show for the pioneering Malian artist Abdoulaye Konaté is inspired by the final track of Ali Farka Touré’s iconic 1976 album Le Jeune Chansonnier du Mali. The song Sambadio celebrates farmers with lyrics reflecting a father’s passionate plea for his son to honour the earth. In a similar vein, Konaté’s latest works draw upon themes of Bedouin culture, integrating motifs that pay tribute to their relationship with the land.

Konaté creates large-scale textile-based installations using woven and dyed materials native to his homeland Mali. His abstract and figurative tableaux explore both aesthetic language and diverse socio-political and environmental issues; this show includes a new monumental work 9m wide.

This exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue with contributing writers Simon Njami, Ousseynou Wade and Professor Yacouba Konaté.

To 6 January.

Above: Abdoulaye Konaté in front of Source de lumière (Soleil) Motif d’Arabie sur Fond Ocre (2024)