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Writer's pictureMonica Blignaut

Abdoulaye Konaté


Artist 241

Abdoulaye Konaté

Textile Art


Abdoulaye Konaté (born 1953) is a Malian artist. He was born in Diré and lives and works in Bamako. He specializes in textile art using woven and dyed clothes from his native Mali.



He combines his painting skills with installation work, and by they he comments on political and environmental affairs. The encroachment of the Sahel and the impact of AIDS on society and on individuals have been two major themes in his work.



He questioning the political, social, and economic scenes in contemporary Mali. Issues including AIDS, wars, ecological issues, human rights, and globalization affects all aspects of life and individuals within society. Much of his large-scale work is textile-based, a medium that is more readily available than paints.



Konaté explore the space between figuration and abstraction, "The visual difference for me is relatively low. Up to a certain level, the imagining of the figurative finds himself in abstraction. Just think of looking at a cloudy sky, in which inevitably also repeatedly shapes, silhouettes seem reminiscent of people. For me, reconstructed in any case even in the most abstract forms the idea of ​​something representational. The border is not as clean as one likes to believe."


He uses a symphony of colours, that uses wide deep research through symbol and essence, this is the path Abdoulaye Konaté is crossing in his latest works.

Konaté’s joyful compositions reflect a universe filled with symbols, in an atmosphere charged of significances. He forges a language of colours is made of extrinsic impressions but also internal affections.


On his use of textiles Konaté says, “Textiles are in principle very strongly tied to the people, on whose body they act for him often as a house. And the meaning varies according to the ethnic groups, epochs, traditions. There are certain substances that are intended for the wedding, soirées or religious ceremonies. To that extent have textiles for human social and periodic content, sometimes there is also a mystic attribution. With us, the musicians and hunters carry certain substances, because they believe that some force inherent in these and they are protected."



Sources Consulted

https://m.huffpost.com/…/en…/us_56255056e4b02f6a900d59a6/amp

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdoulaye_Konat%C3%A9

https://www.primomarellagallery.com/…/a…/1/abdoulaye-konate/

https://www.primomarellagallery.com/…/a…/1/abdoulaye-konate/

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