Abdoulaye Konaté (1 February 1953) is a

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

an artist. He was born in

Diré Diré is a town and commune on the left bank of the Niger River in the Tombouctou Region of Mali. In the 2009 census the population of the commune was 22,365. The town is the administrative center of the Diré Cercle. There are several langu ...

and lives and works in

Bamako Bamako is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country. Bamak ...

. Konaté studied painting at the Institut National des Arts de Bamako and then at the

Instituto Superior de Arte The University of Arts of Cuba / Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) was established on 1 September 1976, by the Cuban government as a school for the arts. Its original structure had three schools: Music, Visual Arts, and Performing Arts. History T ...

Havana, Cuba Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

Early life

Konaté was born February 1st, 1953 in the northern town of

. He studied and graduated at the Institut National des Arts de Bamako between the times of 1972 to 1976 with a degree in painting. He then moved to

Havana, Cuba Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Superior de Arte,

Havana, Cuba Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. During his time in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

he discovered multidisciplinary art. This left a long impression on him. Konaté used acrylic to paint a multitude of work. in the 1990's Konaté switched from traditional painting to

tapestry Tapestry is a form of Textile arts, textile art which was traditionally Weaving, woven by hand on a loom. Normally it is used to create images rather than patterns. Tapestry is relatively fragile, and difficult to make, so most historical piece ...

. His tapestries are shown in galleries all over the world today.

Career

Konaté worked as a

graphic designer A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...

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. He and his work have received several awards, including in 2002 the Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mali and Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de France.

Exhibitions

Solo shows

* 2013- Abdoulaye Konaté - Primo Marella Gallery Milan, Milan * 2011- Abdoulaye Konaté: Window Commission 2011 - Institute of International Visual Arts - iniva, London * 2009- Textiles - Heidelberger Forum für Kunst, Heidelberg * 1999- Abdoulaye Konaté - Tuchbilder + Installation - Dany Keller Galerie - Munich, Munich

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 Documenta (often stylized documenta) is an Art exhibition, exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. Documenta was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgarte ...

, 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

Influences

Combining his painting skills with installation work, he comments on political and environmental affairs. The encroachment of the

Sahel The Sahel region (; ), or Sahelian acacia savanna, is a Biogeography, biogeographical region in Africa. It is the Ecotone, transition zone between the more humid Sudanian savannas to its south and the drier Sahara to the north. The Sahel has a ...

and the impact of

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

on society and on individuals have been two major themes in his work. His questioning of the political, social, and economic scenes in contemporary Mali is evident in how AIDS, wars,

ecological Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

issues, human rights, and

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

affects all aspects of life and individuals within society. Much of his large-scale work is

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

-based, a medium that is more readily available than paints.

Artes Mundi

In 2008 Konaté was nominated for the

Artes Mundi Artes Mundi (Latin: ''arts of the world'') is an international arts organisation based in Cardiff, Wales. Established in 2002, it is committed to supporting international contemporary visual artists whose work engages with social reality and lived ...

prize. His exhibition included pieces such as ''Les Marcheurs'' and ''Tafo ou la force du verbe''.

Literature

La toile d'Abdoulaye Konaté / Joëlle Busca. - Bamako, Mali, Ministère de la culture et Dakar, Senegal, Galerie nationale d'art, 2011. Abdoulaya Konaté / ''edited by'' Camilla Jalving ... t al. - London, BlainSouthern and Ishøj, Arken, 2016.

References

External links

Abdoulaye Konaté - Tiroche DeLeon Collection

Blain, Southern , Artists , Abdoulaye Konaté

{{DEFAULTSORT:Konate, Abdoulaye Malian artists 1953 births Living people People from Bamako People from Tombouctou Region 21st-century Malian people Instituto Superior de Arte alumni Malian emigrants