Amsterdam Foam

Malick Sidibé - Chemises

Foam presents a unique work by the celebrated Malinese

photographer Malick Sidibé (b. 1935). Sidibé is the eminence

grise of African photography and one of the first African

photographers to win recognition in the West for his work.

Centrepiece of the show is a series of original chemises,

coloured sheets of card on which Sidibé pasted small prints of

the photos he took at parties and events in Bamako,

the capital of Mali. Partygoers were able to view and order

copies of photos after the event. The chemises displayed

here date from between 1962 and 1973. They are

accompanied by numerous portraits taken by Sidibé in the

1970s at his studio in Bagadadji, a working-class area of

Bamako. Together the displays offer a unique and often

heart-warming insight into Malinese society in the early

years following independence. Malick Sidibé received

a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement for his entire

oeuvre at the Venice Biennale of 2007. This year Sidibé

was also honoured by the International Centre for

Photography (ICP) in New York with their 24th Lifetime

Achievement Award. info: http://www.foam.nl/