Join us at ICP for the New York launch of "Painted Frames” by iconic photographer Malick Sidibe, published by Loose Joints. Contributing essayist Amy Sall will be in conversation with ICP Creative Director David Campany to discuss the impact of Sidibe’s legacy, the distinctive craft in this late career series, and the accompanying exhibition at Jack Shainman Gallery.
Reserve "Malick Sidibé: Painted Frames" (Loose Joints, $75) for pick-up when reserving your seat to the program or order through the ICP shop for shipping.
About the Book
Loose Joints is honoured to announce Painted Frames, a little-known collection of works by the late Malick Sidibé. Known as the 'Eye of Bamako,' Sidibé documented the lives, style, and energy of post-independence Mali with unparalleled intimacy. His iconic black-and-white photographs, from the exuberant youth of Bamako's dancehalls to the self-assured subjects in his studio, captured a nation defining itself in a moment of profound social and cultural change.
Painted Frames reimagines this legacy, blending Sidibé's hallmark portraits with vivid, hand-painted coloured frames created in collaboration with the artist and local Malian artisans toward the end of Sidibé's life. These frames were not mere embellishments but functional objects — keepsakes and symbols of status, gifted, circulated, cherished and shared. They reflect the joy, pride, and self-expression of Sidibé's subjects, reminding us that his photography was always a social practice first and foremost, designed to celebrate the interconnectedness of African people, culture, and identity.
This late series highlights Sidibé's enduring commitment to celebrating Mali's cultural modernity, emphasising his works as dynamic pieces of social transmission rather than fetishised art objects. By layering painted borders with photographic portraits, Sidibé brought a new richness to his work, amplifying its role as a celebration of social exchange, while also serving as a curatorial gesture in which he gathered together the most important works from his diverse and expansive œuvre into a jubilant burst of colour and affirmation.
About the Guests
Amy Sall is a writer, independent researcher, and collector-archivist based in New York. She is the founding editor of SUNU: Journal of African Affairs, Critical Thought + Aesthetics, a pan-African, post-disciplinary platform exploring the artistic, cultural, and intellectual production of Africa and the diaspora across time and space. Amy holds a master's degree in human rights studies from Columbia University. As a Part-time Lecturer at The New School, New York, she conceived and taught two courses, “The African Gaze: Visual Culture of Postcolonial Africa and the Social Imagination” and “Third Cinema & the Counter Narratives.” Through her work, she has been invited to participate in and moderate a number of panel discussions and Q&As with artists, filmmakers, scholars and curators, and invited to deliver guest lectures at universities such as Yale.
Amy's work also extends to consulting and conducting research for entities engaged in projects, programming, and exhibitions relating to contemporary African and Afro-diasporic visual culture. She has worked with companies and organizations such as A24 Books where she served as Archival Consultant for the book On The Dance Floor. Amy's private collection, The Sall Collection, is an assemblage of studio and other vernacular photography, printed matter, and ephemera with a pan-African focus. Her work and interests explore the theory and praxis of cultural sovereignty, cultural preservation, anti-/de-/post-coloniality, human rights, visual culture, and the archive.
Amy's first book, published by Thames & Hudson titled The African Gaze: Photography, Cinema and Power, was released in 2024. Aside from her writing and cultural work, she also collaborates with fashion and beauty brands. She has collaborated with and has been featured in editorials and campaigns for global brands and a number of publications.
David Campany is Creative Director of the International Center of Photography, New York. He has worked worldwide with institutions including MoMA New York, Tate, Whitechapel Gallery London, Centre Pompidou, Le Bal Paris, ICP New York, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, The Photographer’s Gallery London, ParisPhoto, PhotoLondon, The National Portrait Gallery London, Aperture, Steidl, MIT Press, Thames & Hudson, MACK and Frieze.
Image by Malick Sidibe