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The Béton Center of Visual Culture presents the exhibition «Dandies. Festivities Every Day». The exhibition features over 90 original prints by African photo artists Malick Sidibé and Baudouin Mouanda, as well as five thematic photo albums by Malick Sidibe that depict the daily lives of African families.
Malick Sidibé (1935 – 2016) was a legendary Malian photographer who captured the lives of a generation of young Africans during a time of tumultuous social, cultural, and political change. In 1960, after Mali gained independence from French colonial rule, Sidibe found himself at the center of the country’s quest for unity and integration into the global historical process. Known as the «Eye of Bamako», he created thousands of photographs that served as a documentary chronicle of a nation swept by the euphoria of the time. In his lens, the life of the night city blooms with laughter, and the dandies of the African sixties—in their ultra-fashionable suits, dark glasses, and motorcycles—want to take everything from life with youthful audacity. They are full of energy, passion for life, and hope for the future. According to the photographer, the image of Africa was too often associated with suffering, poverty, and misery, and he always wanted to show the beauty and strength of life in his work.
Malik Sidibé is the first photographer to be awarded the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale for his lifetime contribution to art (2007). His photograph «Christmas Night» (1963), which was exhibited at the Béton Center of Visual Culture, was included in Time magazine’s list of the 100 most significant photographs.
Baudouin Mouanda (1981) is a contemporary Congolese photographer. He became interested in photography at the age of 13 and soon began chronicling the life of his hometown of Brazzaville for local newspapers, earning the nickname «Photouin». Much of his work focuses on the history of Congo and the aftermath of its protracted civil wars. However, Muanda gained worldwide recognition for his series «La Sape», which explores the phenomenon of African dandy culture.
The acronym «Sape» (Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes) translates to «Community of Advanced and Elegant People». This is a specific subculture that is prevalent among the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo. The members of this subculture, known as «sapeurs», dress in vibrant colors and wear ostentatiously elegant and expensive attire that stands in stark contrast to their daily reality. During the day, they are taxi drivers, tailors, gardeners, and electricians, but in the evening, they transform into style icons and adopt catchy nicknames that have nothing to do with their real names. In addition to their desire to look elegant and fashionable, La Sape’s followers have their own «code of honor», characterized by specific gestures and mannerisms. They believe that their vibrant and extravagant style is not a display of social status but a symbol of their inner freedom, refusing to succumb to the pressures of life. It’s a form of protest against the poverty and squalor of their living conditions, a way of expressing themselves through fashion, turning it into a spectacular show to make the world a little more beautiful, even if just for a moment.
The exhibition «Dandies. Festivities Every Day» is dedicated to people who, without leaving the labyrinths of crooked streets and dilapidated houses, managed to find the spark of a bright celebration within themselves, captured the pulse of desperate pimping, and once again took to the streets of cities, dancing and laughing. This music of color, composed of bold and daring contrasts, this rhythm of well-pressed collars and polished shoes, and these dances of exquisite canes are essential to fancy pants. Filling the bustling streets with their presence, they give their performances to the giant city with irony and light-heartedness, celebrating life itself. It is a celebration that they generously share with everyone.
The Béton Center of Visual Culture presents the exhibition «Dandies. Festivities Every Day». The exhibition features over 90 original prints by African photo artists Malick Sidibé and Baudouin Mouanda, as well as five thematic photo albums by Malick Sidibe that depict the daily lives of African families.
Malick Sidibé (1935 – 2016) was a legendary Malian photographer who captured the lives of a generation of young Africans during a time of tumultuous social, cultural, and political change. In 1960, after Mali gained independence from French colonial rule, Sidibe found himself at the center of the country’s quest for unity and integration into the global historical process. Known as the «Eye of Bamako», he created thousands of photographs that served as a documentary chronicle of a nation swept by the euphoria of the time. In his lens, the life of the night city blooms with laughter, and the dandies of the African sixties—in their ultra-fashionable suits, dark glasses, and motorcycles—want to take everything from life with youthful audacity. They are full of energy, passion for life, and hope for the future. According to the photographer, the image of Africa was too often associated with suffering, poverty, and misery, and he always wanted to show the beauty and strength of life in his work.
Malik Sidibé is the first photographer to be awarded the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale for his lifetime contribution to art (2007). His photograph «Christmas Night» (1963), which was exhibited at the Béton Center of Visual Culture, was included in Time magazine’s list of the 100 most significant photographs.
Baudouin Mouanda (1981) is a contemporary Congolese photographer. He became interested in photography at the age of 13 and soon began chronicling the life of his hometown of Brazzaville for local newspapers, earning the nickname «Photouin». Much of his work focuses on the history of Congo and the aftermath of its protracted civil wars. However, Muanda gained worldwide recognition for his series «La Sape», which explores the phenomenon of African dandy culture.
The acronym «Sape» (Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes) translates to «Community of Advanced and Elegant People». This is a specific subculture that is prevalent among the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo. The members of this subculture, known as «sapeurs», dress in vibrant colors and wear ostentatiously elegant and expensive attire that stands in stark contrast to their daily reality. During the day, they are taxi drivers, tailors, gardeners, and electricians, but in the evening, they transform into style icons and adopt catchy nicknames that have nothing to do with their real names. In addition to their desire to look elegant and fashionable, La Sape’s followers have their own «code of honor», characterized by specific gestures and mannerisms. They believe that their vibrant and extravagant style is not a display of social status but a symbol of their inner freedom, refusing to succumb to the pressures of life. It’s a form of protest against the poverty and squalor of their living conditions, a way of expressing themselves through fashion, turning it into a spectacular show to make the world a little more beautiful, even if just for a moment.
The exhibition «Dandies. Festivities Every Day» is dedicated to people who, without leaving the labyrinths of crooked streets and dilapidated houses, managed to find the spark of a bright celebration within themselves, captured the pulse of desperate pimping, and once again took to the streets of cities, dancing and laughing. This music of color, composed of bold and daring contrasts, this rhythm of well-pressed collars and polished shoes, and these dances of exquisite canes are essential to fancy pants. Filling the bustling streets with their presence, they give their performances to the giant city with irony and light-heartedness, celebrating life itself. It is a celebration that they generously share with everyone.
