Wednesday, March 20, 2013, at 18.00 at Palais de Tokyo, meeting with Bakary Diallo and Seydou Cissé. In the presence of Alain Fleischer* and Jean-Loup Pivin**.

Following the political events that are disrupting Mali, Alain Fleischer – the director of Le Fresnoy, Studio national des arts contemporains – wished to take advantage of Palais de Tokyo’s program of Alertes in order to raise awareness of the cultural and artistic situation in Mali.

The Alertes are invitations issued to artists and exhibition curators to take over a space at Palais de Tokyo and react to the burning news issues of the moment, whether they be political, economic or emotional. The fourth Alerte organized by Palais de Tokyo, “Alerte: Mali from a different point of view”, draws attention to the fragilization of Mali’s cultural life in these times of war. It seeks to reveal a different news story from the military and strategic one that is conveyed to us regarding the fighting in Mali.

Bakary Diallo and Seydou Cissé are two young Malian artists who recently graduated from the Le Fresnoy school. Video is their preferred medium, Malian society their main subject. The recent events that have taken place in their country have made it difficult for them to practice their art. Now living in Trappes in the department of Yvelines, they consider the development of society and ponder about the survival of social and cultural practices in wartime.

*Alain Fleischer is a French film-maker, photographer, artist and writer, the founder and director of Le Fresnoy, Studio national des arts contemporains. **Jean-Loup Pivin is an architect, art critic, the author of numerous essays on contemporary African creative work, and a publisher. He is the founder of the Revue Noire and the BICFL1, one of the foremost offices of cultural engineering.