‘Nobody is born a slave: The struggle for freedom in contemporary Mali’

This October, the Wolfson Gallery at the SOAS library is hosting a photo exhibition entitled 'Nobody is Born a Slave: The Struggle for Freedom in Contemporary Mali’ by Fatoma Coulibaly (aka BakooCly). 

The exhibition is curated by Dr Marie Rodet and is the concluding event of the UKRI-funded research-action project ‘Slavery and Forced Migration in Western Mali’ (2020-2024).

In January 2019, within 3 weeks 1,231 persons escaped slavery-related extreme violence in western Mali and took refuge in the village of Mambiri. The population of the village has nearly doubled with the arrival of the displaced families, and the locals displayed great solidarity (land loans or donations). Nonetheless, although they escaped slavery, they remain exposed to land insecurity and face challenges to rebuild a sustainable future.

Through 11 pictures taken by the photographer Fatoma Coulibarly (aka BakooCly) in Mambiri in 2022, the exhibition traces and contextualises the experiences and new life of some of these forcibly displaced families. It tells a story of African resilience in the face of slavery and forced displacement.

To learn more about this research, read our latest publication, 'Rethinking the Climate Change-Migration-Conflict Nexus in the Sahel: A Plea for Intersectionality to Include Descent-based Slavery'.