The staff of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art expresses deepest condolences on the passing of award-winning Malian photographer Malick Sidibé who has died at the age of 80.
Sidibé, best known for his black-and-white images of Malian youth culture from the 1950s to 70s, still resonates among photographers across Africa and around the world. He achieved success in his homeland of Bamako, Mali, and in Paris. In 2007, Sidibé became the first African, and the first photographer, to be awarded the Golden Lion Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale. His iconic work, Nuit de Noël (Happy Club), in the museum’s permanent collection, was featured in the exhibition Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue. #MalickSidibe
born 1935, Mali
Nuit de Noël (Happy-Club)
1963, printed 2008
Gelatin silver print
Image: 42.5 x 43 cm (16 3/4 x 16 15/16 in.)
Sheet: 61 x 50 cm (24 x 19 11/16 in.)
National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, museum purchase, 2009-12-3
Photograph by Franko Khoury
