A Prominent Conversation with Abdoulaye Konaté
Toutes les images / All images : Courtesy the artist and Templon, Paris —Brussels — New York
Abdoulaye Konaté, known as the Master, was born in 1953 in Diré, Mali. He is a leading figure on the African contemporary art scene. Konaté lives and works in Bamako. He is a visual artist and major figure on the contemporary art scene of his country and the African continent. After graduating from the Institut National des Arts of Bamako in 1976, he studied at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, Cuba, from 1978 to 1985. He headed the Exhibitions Division at the Musée National du Mali from 1985 to 1997 before taking charge of the Palais de la Culture in Bamako and Rencontres Photographiques de Bamako from 1998 to 2002. He then took up the post of head of the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers Multimédia "Balla Fasseké Kouyaté" in Bamako, Mali.
His work has been shown in numerous solo exhibitions, including at the Espace Dominique Bagouet in Montpellier (2021), Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town (2020), Fondation CDG in Rabat, Morocco (2017), Arken Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen(2016), Fondation Festival sur le Niger in Mali (2012), Galerie Nationale d’Art in Dakar (2011), Biennale d’Art Contemporain in Dakar (2010), Forum für Kunst in Germany (2009), Musée National du Mali in Bamako (1992), and Musée de l’IFAN in Senegal (1992). He has been invited to take part in a wide range of group exhibitions, such as at La Villette in Paris (2017), 57th Venice Biennale (2017), Biennale d’Art Contemporain in Dakar (2016), Norrköping Konst museum in Sweden (2015), National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute in the USA (2013), Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (2013), Stedelijk Museum in the Netherlands (2012), Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris (2011), Bienal de La Habana in Cuba (2009), Gwangju Biennale in South Korea (2008), Documenta – Kassel in Germany (2007), and Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels (2003).
His work features in public collections at institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the USA, Smithsonian Museum in the USA, Stedelijk Museum in the Netherlands and D’ak’art, Biennale de l’Art Africain Contemporain in Senegal.
UZOMAH: Can you describe what you intend audiences to see, experience, and think about when viewing your work?
ABDOULAYE : What I want is what every artist desires: for there to be a connection between my work and those who see it. If they come to liking something in my work, or bringing a new analysis of it to me, then I'm delighted. This would become a two-way conversation. Artists have a lot to learn from those who look at their work; depending on their history and perspective, they bring a different angle of view. They bring a different conception of work and a different way of thinking. I work on a variety of themes, and there are audiences who are specialists in those themes. I love talking to them. For example, I can meet specialists in symbols or social themes, religion, nature, fauna, flora, and insects. They bring a different perspective.
Toutes les images / All images : Courtesy the artist and Templon, Paris —Brussels — New York
U: How does one's previously formed opinion, prior knowledge, or familiarity with an artist's work, even from a distance, influence their interpretation when they finally encounter it in person?
A: Yes sometimes while talking to a viewer, I sense that they had another point of view, which I find interesting. It is intriguing. Sometimes, they see something in my work that I hadn't seen before. And then I use a lot of signs, which carry with them the soul of a culture, so there's a lot of room for different interpretations.
U: What are your favorite parts of art that revolve around the senses besides being a visual interaction with the art? How can taping into the sensual part of the art experience enhance the art for the viewer through your use of textiles?
A: What I love about textiles is the sensory as much as the visual aspect. I use it in its entirety, as a material medium but also for communication. I work mainly with quality textiles, even though I mix a lot of textiles, but these are materials that have been worked, that are the result of a designer's labour. The material itself adds value to the work of art, and there are several layers of interpretation in my work.
Toutes les images / All images : Courtesy the artist and Templon, Paris —Brussels — New York
U: Can you discuss the meaning behind your exhibition's title, not just its literal sense, but the meaning that goes beyond it, and how the art reflects both meaning and title?
A: The soul of the signs was created in relation to the material itself, which is the result of work. The symbols are also the result of generations of research into symbolism. Both the fabrics and the symbols that I incorporate into my work have been through several generations and carry within them a whole symbolism, a whole history. I take the aesthetic form of these signs and integrate them into the fabric. The motif in my work is multiplied, added to, changed position, it comes to life. Even today, there is a close link between textiles and symbols. The clothes we wear have a specific shape or slogan. They carry a history, a sense of belonging, a culture. There's a lot to explore here.
U: How does art, with its transformative power, help people of different genders, races, political parties, and societal differences? How does it enable them to understand these differences, find common ground, and, ultimately, discover their shared humanity?
A: This is a question we often come across, which is linked to the commitment of the artist or not, to the link between art and the work of the mind. Art is a way of thinking; it's human thought, our raw material, and it's with this that societies have managed to codify themselves, to identify with areas of development, countries, continents, and nations; it's this art or this culture that makes up man's DNA. Art shows an identification, a codification, of a nation, a society that creates our difference but also allows us to unite, it is a means of uniting or creating problems and moving the lines.
Toutes les images / All images : Courtesy the artist and Templon, Paris —Brussels — New York
U: With your diverse range of titles and mediums, such as being a Graphic designer, painter, installation artist, or sculptor, could you elaborate on which one allows you to explore yourself most freely? What aspects of each medium intrigue you the most and why?
A: I studied Fine Arts in Bamako and at the Institut Supérieur des Arts in Havana. During those years, I used acrylics, oils, screen printing and old earthenware techniques. I did a lot of acrylics, screen printing, a bit of etching, watercolors and a lot of installations. Today I'm at a stage where I'm working with textiles. Is this my final stage? I don't really know. I really like working with textiles because it gives me so many possibilities. But I always have painting in mind. As far as I'm concerned, I'm painting with textiles, I'm using the same steps, the research work, the sketches, and so on.
U: What is the most significant misconception people in the art world have about Africa and what it means to be African? How does your art dispel those stereotypes?
A: It's a very old, very profound question. Often we read the artistic production of an African country in relation to its history or colonial history, or the history of slavery. Dominant cultures tend to break the dominated culture, that's human. Humanity would gain more by exploring and understanding the ancient cultures, the dominated cultures, and all the social relationships explained in these cultures. We have a lot to learn from these ancestral cultures. I don't believe in the superiority of one culture over another. African art has been called many things. We've talked about wild art, primitive art, contemporary art, African art - these are terms that are evolving. Those who look at these cultures today are very tolerant of these ancestral cultures. The Picasso period was a great period because it opened the door for the first time, and ethnologists were the first to open their eyes to these ancestral cultures. They were the first to analyse aesthetic codes, and then became interested in the spiritual content of African culture.
For more information about Abdoulaye’s artwork, please visit Templon’s site, a feature on his most recent exhibit with Templon in the magazine can be found here. The gallery can also be found on Instagram, artnet, Facebook, YouTube, and Artsy.
