Photography in Mali: Hamdia Traoré’s Marabouts of Jenne in Context [working title]: Block Museum - Northwestern University
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Photography in Mali: Hamdia Traoré’s Marabouts of Jenne in Context [working title]

February 4-June 14, 2026
Hamdia Traoré (Malian, born 1992), Yelpha Djiété, Marabout et Maître Coranique. Il est Imam de la Grande Mosquée de Djenné-Konofia (Yelpha Djiété, Marabout and Qur’anic Teacher. He is Imam of the Great Mosque of Jenne-Konofia), from the series Des Marabouts de Djenné (Marabouts of Jenne), September 2018, printed 2023, Inkjet print, pigment-based. Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Irwin and Andra S. Press Collection Endowment Fund purchase. 2022.17.20. Image courtesy of the artist.

The storied city of Jenne, a center of Islamic learning, study, and scholarship since the twelfth century, is the hometown of Bamako-based photographer Hamdia Traoré (b. 1992, Mali). The thirty portraits in Traore’s series Des Marabouts de Djenné (Marabouts of Jenne) reflect his intimate connections to the city’s people and deep history. Learned and devout, marabouts teach in Jenne’s over 50 Qur’anic schools, offer spiritual guidance, and treat ailments through their knowledge of the Qur’an.

Made during a time of political and social upheaval in Mali, these portraits reflect enduring cultural resilience. Each image depicts a marabout seated with the tools of his practice—books, Qur’an boards, amulets, and prayer beads—framed by the architecture and atmosphere of Djenné. The consistent format underscores their collective identity, while individual poses and captions highlight personal roles and neighborhoods.

Traoré’s work will be shown alongside mid-20th-century black-and-white portraits of marabouts by Malian photographers Mamadou Cissé, Abdourahmane Sakaly, and Tijani Sitou. Drawn from the Archive of Malian Photography, these earlier images share visual parallels and deepen the historical context. Together, these images illuminate evolving perspectives on spiritual authority, identity, and visual representation in Mali.

This exhibition is developed in collaboration with the artist and professor Candace Keller, co-founder of the Archive of Malian Photography.

Further Reading:

  • Candace M. Keller. Imaging Culture: Photography in Mali, West Africa. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2021.
  • Mommersteeg, Geert. In the City of the Marabouts: Islamic Culture in West Africa. Translated by Diane Webb. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc., 2012.

About the Artist

Hamida Troure

Hamdia Traoré is a documentary photographer based in Bamako, Mali. His photographs have been exhibited both in Mali and abroad. He has worked as a freelancer for the United States Embassy, the British Embassy, and the Consulate of Monaco in Mali, as well as for numerous international NGOs, such as SPANA, Tree Aid, Sightsavers, DevWorks, Vétérinaire Sans Frontières Belgium, and the Organization for the Prevention of Blindness, and for the photo agency Andolu Images. In 2015 he received the Documentary Award in the Architecture category from the Humanity Photo Awards of the China Folklore Photographic Association.