Abdoulaye Konaté, born in Diré, Mali in 1953, studied painting at the Institut National des Arts in Bamako and then the Institut Supérieur des Arts, Havana, Cuba, where he lived for seven years before returning to Mali.
Abdoulaye Konaté is a Malian artist who combines hanging, assembly, dyeing and sculpture to achieve high recall and strong presence in space. With textiles, gris-gris, bullets, used clothing or sand, he comes in the theater and the world of contemporary art through the door or spiritual or political. He is reflecting a Malian, African and universal collective consciousness.
In his own word
“The visual difference for me is relatively low. Up to a certain level, the imagining of the figurative finds himself in abstraction. Just think of looking at a cloudy sky, in which inevitably also repeatedly shapes, silhouettes seem reminiscent of people. For me, reconstructed in any case even in the most abstract forms the idea of something representational. The border is not as clean as one likes to believe.”
“Textiles are in principle very strongly tied to the people, on whose body they act for him often as a house. And the meaning varies according to the ethnic groups, epochs, traditions. There are certain substances that are intended for the wedding, soirées or religious ceremonies. To that extent have textiles for human social and periodic content, sometimes there is also a mystic attribution. With us, the musicians and hunters carry certain substances, because they believe that some force inherent in these and they are protected.”
Konaté’s work has been exhibited in numerous international exhibitions. Major group shows include:
Group shows
2014
- Destination…1:54: Contemporary African Art – Primo Marella Gallery Milan, Milan
- The Divine Comedy. Heaven, Purgatory and Hell Revisited by Contemporary African Artists -Museum für Moderne Kunst (MMK), Frankfurt/Main2013
- Decorum – Musée d´Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris – MAM/ARC, Paris
- Hollandaise – Raw Material Company, Dakar
2012
- Hollandaise – Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam – SMBA, Amsterdam
- Moving Into Space: Football and Art in West Africa – National Football Museum, Manchester
- We Face Forward: Art from West Africa Today – Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester
2010
- Africa, Assume Art Position! – Primo Marella Gallery Milan, Milan
- Textiles – Fondation Jean Paul Blachere, Apt
- Dak’Art 2010 – Dak’Art 1990 > 2010 : rétrospective et perspectives – Dak’Art Biennale de l’art africain contemporain, Dakar
2009
- 10. Bienal de La Habana – La Bienal de La Habana, Havana
2008
- INPUT – Colecção Sindika Dokolo – Museu Nacional de História Natural, Luanda
- Travesía – Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno (CAAM), Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
- 7th Gwangju Biennale – Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju
- Angaza Afrika – African Art Now – October Gallery, London
- Artes Mundi 3 – National Museum Cardiff, Cardiff, Wales
2007
- Brocken Memory – Ghana National Art Museum, Accra
- Contct Zone – Musée National du Mali, Bamako
- Africa Remix – Contemporary art of a continent – Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG), Johannesburg
- Documenta 12 – Documenta, Kassel
2006
- Trienal de Luanda 2007 – Trienal de Luanda, Luanda
- 2° Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo de Sevilla – BIACS – Fundación Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo de Sevilla, Sevilla
- Africa Remix – Moderna Museet, Stockholm
- SD Observatorio – IVAM – Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Valencia
- Africa Remix – Contemporary Art of a Continent – Mori Art Museum, Tokyo
- 7ème Biennale de l´Art Africain contemporain – Dak’Art Biennale de l’art africain contemporain, Dakar
2005
- African Remix – l’art contemporain d’un continent – Centre Pompidou – Musée National d´Art Moderne, Paris
- Africa Remix – Contemporary Art of a Continent – Hayward Gallery, London
2004
- Afrika Remix – Zeitgenössische Kunst eines Kontinents – Museum Kunstpalast, Dusseldorf
1998
- 24° Bienal de São Paulo – Bienal de Sao Paulo, São Paulo
1997
- Die Anderen Modernen : Zeitgenössische Kunst aus Afrika, Asien und Lateinamerika – Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin
In 2008 Konaté was nominated for the Artes Mundi prize. His exhibition included pieces such as Les Marcheurs and Tafo ou la force du verbe. Konaté worked as a graphic designer at the Musee National in Bamako. In 1998, he was appointed to be the Director of the Palais de la Culture. He now works as the principal of the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers Multimédia Balla Fasseké Kouyaté in Bamako, Mali.
