Abdoulaye Konaté

The artist

Abdoulaye Konaté, born in Diré in 1953, is one of Africa's leading figures in the visual arts. He works in tapestry, dressmaking, painting and sculpture, using fabric as his main creative material. He creates installations in which he uses traditional objects as an alphabet. By combining Western modernism with African symbolism, he fuses the expressiveness of traditional textiles with symmetrical, even hierarchical compositions, evoking the protection of ethnic and cultural heritage, Africa's place in the world, and global socio-political relations that resonate far beyond his local context.

Exhibitions

Le tissu du réel
November 15 - December 31, 2025
Paris - Beaubourg
The Soul of Signs
April 24 - June 15, 2024
Brussels

Biography

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Birth	Born in Diré, Mali in 1953 Lives and works in Bamako, Mali
Education	Institut National des Arts of Bamako
1972 – 1976	Institut National des Arts de Bamako, Mali
1978 – 1985	Institut Supérieur des Arts Plastiques de La Havane, Cuba

SOLO EXHIBITIONS (SELECTION)

2024	TEMPLON, Brussels, Belgium
2023	Prélude, LGDR, Paris, France
2022	Between Oneirism and Reality, La Galerie 38, Casablanca, Morocco Hommage à Abdoulaye Konaté, l’étoffe d’un maître, Dak’Art, Senegal Des Petits Formats à Dakar, Grand Théâtre National, Dakar, Senegal
2021	Les Plis de l’âme, La Galerie 38, Casablanca, Morocco Les Petits Tableaux, Primae Noctis Art Gallery, Lugano, Switzerland / Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, Italy Lune Bleue, Espace Dominique Bagouet, Montpellier, France The Diffusion of Infinite Things, Standing Pine, Nagoya, Japan
2020	Idéogrammes, signes, symbols et logos, Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town, South Africa Couleur d’âme, Blain\|Southern, New York, USA Abdoulaye Konaté, Gallery 1957, Accra, Ghana
2018	Textile in Art, The Red Door Gallery, Lagos, Nigeria Abdoulaye Konaté, Richard Koh Fine Art, Kuala Lampur, Malaysia
2017	L’étoffe des songes, galerie 38, Casablanca, Morocco L’étoffe des songes – Afrique en capitale, Fondation CDG, Rabat, Morocco Abdoulaye Konaté, Musée Mohamed VI, Rabat, Morocco

Voir plus

2016	Abdoulaye Konaté, ARKEN Museum for Moderne Kunst, Ishøj, Denmark Symphonie en couleur, Blain\|Southern, London, UK Abdoulaye Konaté, Primae Noctis Art Gallery, Lugano, Switzerland Abdoulaye Konaté, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, Italy
2015	Useful Dreams, Blain\|Southern, Berlin, Germany Abdoulaye Konaté, Norrköping Konstmuseum, Norrköping, Sweden Abdoulaye Konaté, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, Italy Southern Panoramas, 19th Festival Contemporary Art Festival, São Paulo, Brazil
2014	Le pouvoir du textile, Galerie le Manège, Biennale d’art contemporain, Dakar, Senegal
2013	Abdoulaye Konaté, The World in Textile, Afrika Museum, Berg en Dal, Netherlands Abdoulaye Konaté, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, Italy
2012	Abdoulaye Konaté, ESADHar – École Supérieure d’Art et Design, Le Havre, France Abdoulaye Konaté, Teintures Teintures, Maison Revue Noire, Paris, France Abdoulaye Konaté, Fondation Festival sur le Niger, Ségou, Mali Abdoulaye Konaté, Project Window, Iniva, Rivington Place, London, UK
2011	La toile d’Abdoulaye Konaté, Galerie Nationale d’Art de Dakar, Senegal Galerie VIP, Marseille, France
2010	Abdoulaye Konaté, Rétrospective, Biennale De Dakar, Senegal
2009	Abdoulaye Konaté, Le Temps de Dance, Galerie Saro Leon, Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain Abdoulaye Konaté: Textile, Forum für Kunst, Heidelberg, Germany
2001	Chapelle Jeanne d’Arc, Thouars, France
1999	Tuchbilder + Installation, Dany Keller Galerie, Munich, Germany
1998	Galerie GO, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
1992	Abdoulaye Konaté, Musée National du Mali, Bamako, Mali Abdoulaye Konaté, Institut Fondamental d’Afrique Noire, Dakar, Senegal
1990	Paysages et Masques II, Galerie Tatou, Bamako, Mali
1988	Galerie GO, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
1983	Abdoulaye Konaté, Le Petit Salon, La Havane, Cuba
1976	Abdoulayé Konaté, Maison du Peuple, Diré, Mali

COLLECTIVE EXHIBITIONS (SELECTION)

2024	Biennale de Dakar, Senegal
2023	14th Gwangju Biennale, Gwanju, South Korea
2022	Documenta 15, Kassel, Germany Still alive, Aichi Triennale, Japan Expo Dubai 2020, Mali Pavillon, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Current Identities, Bode Project, Berlin, Germany Un Fil Rouge, with Barthélémy Toguo, Ky Siriki And Soly Cissé, Gallery 1957, Accra, Ghana
2021	The Black Era, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, Italy Threads, Zwartzusters monastery, Duende Art Projects, Antwerp, Belgium
2020	Global(e) Resistance, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
2019	Africa Universe, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, Italy Africa Universe, Primo Marella Gallery, Lugano, Switzerland Hier est la mémoire d’aujourd’hui, L’espace Commines, Paris, France Boundless Encounters : The 3rd Hangzou Triennal of Fiber Art, Hangzhou, China On the Spiritual Matter of Art, MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Rome, Italy KUBATANA : An Exhibition with Contemporary African artists, Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Oslo, Norway Lend Me Your Dream / Prête-moi Ton Rêve – Traveling exhibition ; Le Studio des Arts Vivants, L’Artorium, Casablanca, Morocco ; Museum of Black Civilizations, Dakar, Senegal ; The Contemporary Arts Rotonde, Abidjan, Ivory Coast ; Lagos, Nigeria ; Cape Town, South Africa ; African Union Headquarters Addis-Abeba, Ethiopia ; Rabbat, Morocco La construcción de lo possible, 13th Havana Biennial, Cuba
2018	African Civilizations : Continous Creation of Humanity, Museum of Black Civilizations, Dakar, Senegal New Materialism, Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden African Metropolis. An imaginary city, MAXXI, Rome, Italy Ravelled Threads, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, USA Talisman in the Age of Difference, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, UK Pulling out Threads, Norval Foundation, Cape Town, South Africa Mobile Worlds or The Museum of our Transcultural Present, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany

Voir plus

2017	Metropolis Afrique Capitales, la Villette, Paris, France Viva Arte Viva, 57th Biennale, Venice, Italy Vers le Cap de Bonne Espérance, Gare Saint Sauveur, Lille, France The Summer Show 2017, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK L’Afrique en capitale, musée Mohammed VI d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Rabat, Morocco
2016	Still (the) Barbarians, EVA International, Irish Biennial, Limerick, Ireland 12 Solos, Blain\|Southern, Berlin, Germany Afterwork, ILHAM Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Promenade à Bamako, Eiffage, Contemporary Art Biennial, Dakar, Senegal
2015	ART_TEXTILES, The Whitworth, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK 19th Contemporary Art Festival Sesc_Videobrasil \| Southern Panoramas, São Paulo, Brazil Streamlines: Metaphorical and Geopolitical Interpretations of the Oceans, Deichtorhallen International Kunst und Fotografie, Hambourg, Germany Obsession, Maison Particulière, Brusels, Belgium Katrine Helmersson and Abdoulaye Konaté, Norrköping Konstmuseum, Norrköping, Sweden
2014	How Far How Near, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Netherlands
2013	The Divine Comedy: Heaven, Hell, Purgatory revisited by Contemporary African Artists, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, USA The Divine Comedy: Heaven, Hell, Purgatory revisited by Contemporary African Artists, Museum für Moderne Kunst, Francfort, Germany Decorum, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France International Sculpture Route Amsterdam Art Zuid 2013, Amsterdam, Netherlands Marker 2013, Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Métamorphoses, Musée Bargoin, Clermont Ferrand, France
2012	Hollandaise, SMBA, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Netherlands We face forward: Art from West Africa today, Whitworth Art Gallery, The University of Manchester, UK RAW Material Company, Centre pour l’Art, le Savoir et la Société, Dakar, Senegal
2011	Dégagements… La Tunisie un an après, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France Mixités : Daouda N'Diaye, Abdoulaye Konaté, Nestor Da, Aimé Mpane, Romuald Hazoume, Ndary Lo - Les chantiers de la Lune, La Seyne-sur-mer, France Fondation Festival sur le Niger, Ségou, Mali
2010	Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, Italy Festival des Arts nègres, Dakar, Senegal L'Art actuel d'Afrique, Collégiale Saint-André, Chartres, France Textiles ou Fragments de l'Histoire d'une Collection, Fondation Jean-Paul Blachère, Bonnieux, France
2009	Africa Una Nuova Storia. Complesso del Vittoriano, Rome, Italy Havana Biennial, Cuba
2008	Artes Mundi, Musée National de Cardiff, UK INPUT, Colecção Sindika Dokolo - Museu Nacional de História Natural, Luanda, Angola Travesía, Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno (CAAM), Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain 7th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, South Korea Angaza Afrika - African Art Now, October Gallery, London, UK Afrique : Miroir ? Biennale d’Art contemporain, Dakar, Senegal Grey Art Gallery New York, New York University, USA 1st Brussels Biennal, Brussels, Belgium
2007	Three Questions for Art and Its Audience, Documenta 12, Documenta - Kassel, Germany Brocken Memory, Ghana National Art Museum, Accra, Ghana Contact Zone, Musée National du Mali, Bamako, Mali Africa Remix, Contemporary art of a continent: Museum Kunstpalast, Dusseldorf, Germany Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France Hayward Gallery, London, UK Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa
2006	Unhomely: Phantom Scenes in Global Society, 2nd International Biennal of Contemporary Art, Sevilla (BIACS 2), Sevilla, Spain Angola Pop, Triennale de Luanda, Angola Afrique : Entendus, Sous-entendus et malentendus, Biennale d’art contemporain, Dakar, Senegal Chambre Malienne, Fondation Jean-Paul Blachère, Bonnieux, France
2004	Africa Remix, Kunspalast, Dusseldorf, Germany
2003	Musée du design et des arts appliqués contemporains de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Palais des Beaux-arts, Brussels, Belgium Maison des Arts, Paris, France
2002	Musée de Picardie, Amiens, France
2001	Abdoulaye Konaté, Amahiguere Dolo et Ismaël Diabate, Grand Théâtre d'Angers, France
1998	Routes of Passage, Johannesburg Biennale, Johannesburg, South Africa 24th Biennale of São Paulo, Brazil 7th Triennale der Kleinplastik, Stuttgart, Germany
1997	Die Anderen Modernen, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany Modernities and Memories, Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy Permanent installation, Lisbon, Portugal
1996	The Other Journey, Kunst Halle, Krems, Austria
1995	Rencontres Africaines, Caixa General de Deposito, Lisbon, Portugal African art of our time: an inside story, Setagaya Museum, Tokyo, Japan Otro Pais, Palais de la Vireina, Barcelona, Spain
1994	Rencontres Africaines, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France Otro Pais, Centre Atlantique d’Art Moderne, Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain
1992	Biennale de Dakar, Senegal
1991	Regard Croisés, Musée National du Mali, Bamako, Mali Siège World Bank, Banque Mondiale, Washington, USA Association pour la Diffusion de l'Art Plastique Africain Contemporain (A.D.A.P.A.C.) Paris, France Tsurumoto Room Co, LTD Shibuyo, Shibuyo Ku-Tokyo, Japan
1990	ADEIAO, Musée National des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie, Paris, France
1986	Biennale de la Havane, La Havane, Cuba Artistes Maliens et Soviétiques au Palais de la Culture, Palais de la Culture, Bamako, Mali
1984	Havana Biennial, La Havane, Cuba
1983	Salon 13 de Marzo, Galerie Oriente, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba 8th Mali Artistic and Cultural Biennal, Palais de la Culture, Bamako, Mali
1978	Jeunes Peintres du Mali, Institut National des Arts, Bamako, Mali

HONORS

2009	Officier de l’Ordre National du Mali
2002	Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres de la République française
1996	Grand Prix Léopold Sédar Senghor, Biennale d’Art Africain, Dakar

PRIZES AND AWARDS

2008	Prix passeport - Créateurs sans Frontières, France
1996	Prix de la Biennale de Dakar, Senegal
	Docteur Honoris Causa en Art de l’Institut Supérieur des Arts Plastiques de La Havane (ISA), Cuba
1985	Painting first prize, Salon 13 Marzo de l’Université de La Havane, Cuba

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS (SELECTION)

	Africain Al Maaden, MACAAL, Marrakech, Morocco
	Afrika Museum, Berg en Dal, Netherlands
	Arken Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark
	Banque des États de l’Afrique Occidentale, Dakar, Senegal
	Centre Pompidou, Paris, France

BIBLIORAPHY (SELECTION)

2022	Abdoulaye Konaté, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, Italy
2019	Africa Universe, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, Italy
2017	The Black Sphinx, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, Italy
2013	The World in textile, Afrika Museum, Berg en Dal, Netherlands
2010	Guide des artistes plasticiens du Mali/ Tomes 1 et 2. Acte Sept, Mali
	Africa, Assume Art Position !, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, Italy
2009	La Biennale de Dakar : Pour une esthétique de la création contemporaine africaine; Interview with Adorno of Yacouba Konaté and Valentin Yves Mudimbé. Éditions L’Harmattan. Paris, France

Voir plus

	Martinez Nadine. Art contemporain/Art traditionnel : Aller-retour Mali-Mali. Éditions L’Harmattan, Paris, France
2008	Spring Chris. Angaza Afrika: African Art Now. Lawrence King
2007	Documenta XII Kassel, Taschen
2006	France 2nd International Biennial of Contemporary Art of Seville (BIACS 2): The Unhomely: Phantom Scenes in Global Society, Actar, Sevilla
2005	Africa Remix, édition du Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
2002	Fall N'Goné et Pivin Jean Loup. Anthology of African Art, The Twentyth Century. Revue Noire Editions and New York: DAP, Paris, France
2001	Mali Kow : un monde fait de tous les mondes. Montpellier : éditions Indigènes
	Konaté, Dolo, Diabaté : peintures – sculptures – installations. Angers : éditions ville d’Angers, France
	Fall N'Goné et Pivin Jean Loup. Anthologie de l’art africain du XXe siècle. Paris, Revue Noire Editions, Paris, France
2000	Busca Joëlle. Perspectives sur l'art contemporain africain: 15 artistes. Éditions L'Harmattan, Paris, France
	Abdoulaye Konaté plasticien, (les carnets de la création). Éditions de l’œil, Paris, France
1999	Estaçào Oriente, Metropolitano de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugual
1997	Suites africaines. Couvent des Cordeliers, Paris, France
1996	Alain David, Abdoulaye Konaté, Jean-Sébastien Leblond-Duniach : Expositions, Amiens: éditions de Comité-relais Fondation France-libertés et Urbis. Paris, France
1995	African art of our time: An inside story. Tokyo, The Japan Association of Museums
1994	Rencontres africaines, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France