Abdoulaye Konaté

Abdoulaye Konaté’s work primarily takes the form of textile-based installations which explore socio-political and environmental issues, as well as showcasing his aesthetic concerns and formal language. The artist questions the way in which societies and individuals, both in Mali and beyond, have been affected by factors such as war, the struggle for power, religion, globalisation, ecological shifts and the AIDS epidemic. Employing materials native to Mali, namely woven and dyed cloths which are sewn together, the artist creates large-scale abstract and figurative compositions. Konaté refers to the West-African tradition of using textiles as a means of commemoration and communication, balancing global political and social reflections with a reference to his own local and cultural history.

In 2008, Konaté was nominated for the Artes Mundi 3 prize, Cardiff. He has received several awards, including the prestigious Léopold Sédar Senghor Prize at the Dak’Art Biennale in Dakar, the Officier de l'Ordre National du Mali, as well as the  Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de France. He is the Founding General Director of the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers Multimédia Balla Fasseké Kouyaté in Bamako. Major group shows have been exhibited at Documenta 12 in Kassel, Germany, the Stiftung Museum in Kunstpalast, Dusseldorf; Hayward Gallery in London, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo. More recently his work could be found at at the Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt, SCAD Museum of Art in Savannah, Georgia, and the National Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington. Recent solo exhibitions include a retrospective at Arken Museum for Moderne Kunst in Denmark and Symphonie en Couleur at Blain in Southern London.

Courtesy of BlainSouthern