Mali
Malick Sidibé
Somerset House, Terrace Rooms, South Wing
06 OCTOBER - 26 FEBRUARY 2017
Free
Sidibé's black and white photography is what made him his name. 'Mali' explores the cultural climate and documents the lives of Malian capital, Bamako, in an era of Postcolonialism.
Seeing elsewhere that the exhibition had been awarded 5 stars, I was both curious and excited as to what Sidibés work had to offer. The photographs were accompanied by a soundtrack playing throughout the exhibition, a great addition I thought, as the music heightened the feeling of liberation and freedom which the photos aimed to portray.
Sidibé's work is personal, when one views his photographs we feel as though we are transported into the lives of those pictured. This is due to the fact that Sidibé photographs are taken of places, events and times personal to himself. They feature dances, joyous occasions of celebration and trips to the local river, where adolescents bathe and kiss each other with a tenderness and passion. The photographs are stories of love and friendships, relationships amongst the people of Bamako at such a revolutionary time.
Despite absolutely relishing the content of Sidibé's photographs, I couldn't help but notice that they were lacking a certain expertise in the composition. Some of the photographs appeared blurred, whilst others had been developed on a angle, making them appear disjointed. I read elsewhere that Sidibé had got some of his dates wrong on the photos and despite them holding great value they did sometimes appear to me like photos out of a family album, not out of a professional exhibition.
However, these thoughts of mine may actually contribute to Sidibé's photographic license depending on how we take them. The reason I felt Sidibé's photographs to lack a certain professionalism is because they felt so personalised, maybe the slight blurring, angling issues and lack of perfection is the beauty of Sidibé's work, which allows the viewer to fully understand the position and pleasure of this Malian capital during the 1960s.
Overall, the exhibition was insightful and contained moments of simple and unassuming beauty. I would not give it the 5 stars it has been given elsewhere, simply due to the technical flaws mentioned above, but I would still highly recommend going to view Sidibé's work for yourself.
OVERALL RATING: ****
https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/malick-sidibe
