Image courtesy of @Malick Sidibé / Galerie MAGNIN-A, Paris
Nightclubs, beaches and bell-bottoms How Malick Sidibé - the Eye of Bamako - captured carefree and spontaneous moments of post-independence Mali.
If you want to see how to really put an outfit together, head to Malick Sidibé: The Eye of Bamako show at Somerset House in London. In the exhibition, you will find an image titled Les très bons amis dans la même tenue (1972), which pictures five dudes at a party in Bamako in an identical get up, along the lines of Jackson Five Go Studio 54. There is enough satin static to cause a forest fire, there are butt-hugging bell-bottoms, there is so much fierce graphics on display you may go into a psychedelic trance, but above all there is a tremendous kind of slickness. Perhaps it’s because of the way these men simultaneously pat down their tight afro, or perhaps it’s because you know they are about to throw some serious, serious shapes. Either way, take inspiration as that is how you put together a "combination".
Image courtesy of @Malick Sidibé / Galerie MAGNIN-A, Paris
But there are plenty more reasons why you should take yourselves to Malick Sidibé: The Eye of Bamako, a selection of 45 original black and white prints depicting the life and youth culture of 1960s and 1970s Bamako. First, your experience of the show will be accompanied by a gallery soundtrack curated by DJ and African music expert Rita Ray, recreating the spirit and soul of the nightclubs Sidibé frequented every weekend and the party atmosphere of his own Studio Malick. Secondly, the three strands of the show (Beside the Niger River, Nightlife of Bamako and the Studio) will allow you to witness the heady excitement of post-independence Mali and finally, it will give you a chance to see the first ever solo exhibition in the UK of the outstanding late Malian photographer, who was the first photographer and African artist to receive the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the Venice Biennale (2007).
Malick Sidibé - the Eye of Bamako runs until 15 Jan 2017.
Image courtesy of @Malick Sidibé / Galerie MAGNIN-A, Paris
Image courtesy of @Malick Sidibé / Galerie MAGNIN-A, Paris
Image courtesy of @Malick Sidibé / Galerie MAGNIN-A, Paris
Image courtesy of @Malick Sidibé / Galerie MAGNIN-A, Paris