Abdoulaye Konaté

Konaté’s abstract and figurative tableaux explore both aesthetic language and diverse socio-political and environmental issues. Referring to the West- African tradition of using textiles as a means of communication, the artist balances the global issues with an intimate reference to his own life and country.He studied painting at Bamako’s Institut National des Arts and developed a multidisciplinary art practice at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. Early on, he made works on paper featuring Malian cosmological symbols and fabric installations influenced by traditional clothes of Malian artists, singers, and hunter societies.

Konaté is a founding member of the African Culture Fund, and in 2004, he founded the Conservatoire des Arts et Multimédia Balla Fasséké Kouyaté (CAMM–BFK) in Bamako. His works are present in many prestigious public and private collections including: Louvre Abu Dhabi; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Tate Modern, London; Smithsonian Museum, Washington; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Arken Museum for Moderne Kunst, Ishøj; Foundation Blachère, Apt; Musée National du Mali, Bamako; Fondation Guy & Myriam Ullens, Geneva; Fundação Sindika Dokolo or Gare do Oriente, Lisbon; The Tang Teaching Museum, Saratoga Springs, Uli Sigg Collection, Luzern, amongst many others.

Recently, his work has been exhibited at the Gwangju Biennale (2023); Dakar Biennale (2022); Centre Pompidou, Paris (2020); Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town (2020); and the Venice Biennale (2017). In 2016, a retrospective of his work was presented at Arken Museum for Moderne Kunst.

His numerous awards include Officier de l’Ordre National du Mali (2009), France’s Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2002), and the Léopold Sédar Senghor Grand Prize at the Dakar Biennale (1996).