Les Rencontres de Bamako – Biennale Africaine de la Photographie has announced the winners of its photography prizes, as well as three honorable mentions. Maheder Haileselassie Tadesse (Ethiopia) was awarded the prestigious Seydou Keita Grand Prize. Wilfried Vanie alias Willow Evann (Côte d’Ivoire/France), received the Bisi Silva Award, while Nigerian photographer Victor Adewale (Nigeria) earned the third prize for his project Ẹbí Ọlọ́́kadà.

Honorable mentions were awarded to Seyba Keita (Mali), Dior Thiam (Senegal/Germany), and John Moussa Kalapo (Mali) for their compelling and resonant contributions to contemporary photography.

By Maheder Haileselassie Tadesse. Courtesy of Les Rencontres de Bamako.

Maheder Haileselassie Tadesse received the Seydou Keita Grand Prize for her evocative work exploring themes of memory and time. Growing up, Tadesse read Ethiopian history in her father’s books, developing a deep connection to her country’s proud heritage of 3,000 years and resistance to colonization. Her project reflects this cultural inclination toward remembrance while addressing the complexities of modern Ethiopian identity.

Wilfried Vanie alias Willow Evann. Courtesy of Les Recontres de Bamako.

Wilfried Vanie, known as Willow Evann, won the Bisi Silva Award for his powerful works that honor forgotten histories and marginalized collective identities. His series pays tribute to African Tirailleurs, soldiers conscripted into the French colonial army who fought for freedom but whose contributions have largely been erased from history. Using wood as a medium—a symbol of resilience—Evann engraves portraits that preserve the memory of these individuals. The natural veins of the wood evoke the enduring presence of their lives, emphasizing their indispensable role in Western history despite the injustices they endured.

By Victor Adewale. Courtesy of Les Recontres de Bamako.

Victor Adewale was awarded the third prize for his project Ẹbí Ọlọ́́kadà, a compelling exploration of the lives of Okada riders in Mushin, Lagos. The project documents and humanizes these motorcycle riders, who have long faced victimization and harassment from the government through repeated bans that threaten their livelihoods.

Honorable Mentions

Seyba Keita received an Honorable Mention for his series, which opens a photographic window into the silence imposed on women within Malinké communities. Keita’s work challenges the traditional perception of women as the pillars of their families, posing critical questions about whether their exclusion from speech is a reflection of cultural weight or perceived fragility.

Dior Thiam also earned an Honorable Mention for her series Wandering Desert Traces: Do You Remember the Sand in Your Eyes, photographed in 2020 in Senegal’s Lompoul region. The work explores the desert’s relationship with memory through immersive installations featuring large, semi-transparent fabrics in sepia and orange hues.

John Moussa Kalapo’s black-and-white photographic series, Resistance to Oblivion, explores a decade of ethnic and political conflict in Mali. His images capture the fragile silhouettes of victims and perpetrators, highlighting the suffering and resilience of Malian society amidst intercommunal violence and jihadist threats.